Meet one of our Supervising Social Workers

Ruth is one of our Supervising Social Workers in the North East Region. For Social Work Week we caught up with her to hear all about her role and the relationships she has with her Foster Carers.

How did you get into social work?

I’ve been qualified as a social worker for 24 years. I always knew I wanted to do a job helping and empowering people. My first role was in a Looked After Children’s team in Lincolnshire. It was from that role at an early age that I knew my passion was fostering.

I’ve worked in a lot of different roles and I’ve been so lucky to have so many experiences. I can see things from the perspective of a child first coming into foster care to experiences children have in foster care, but also moving on from foster care. I still keep in touch with a lot of my looked after children who are now 25/26.

I’ve now been at Team Fostering for 3 years.

What do you love about your role?

Working with Foster Carers is my strength. My passion now is supporting children that are neurodiverse.  A lot of children are getting assessed for ADHD, foetal alcohol syndrome, autism and supporting Foster Carers with this is really important. The way I do it is just being there on the journey with them. Supporting them, helping them, making sure that they get the training that’s going to help them.

It’s still a job for me that I enjoy getting up in the morning and I enjoy doing. So that speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

What’s the first year of fostering like for new Foster Carers?

At Team Fostering Foster Carers are nurtured and supported throughout the first year to get to the TSD (Training, Development and Support) standards and then move on and go that one level further.

I think the first thing is building a trusting relationship between Supervising Social Worker and the Foster Carer.  I always say to my carers no question is a silly question, we’re in this together.

It’s just being there with the carer, identifying training that they might need, not training they necessarily have to do that ticks a box, but really find the training that’s going to help them grow and develop.

You put all the work in in the first year and then you can sort of step back and just watch them flourish.

What makes a good Foster Carer?

I think everyone’s very different and I think everyone comes into fostering for different reasons. I think you’ve got to be open to learning, to explore, be curious, find out more about therapeutic parenting and engage with one-to-one supervision to reflect.

I always say if there’s any issues at all, just shout up. I see some relationships where the Foster Carer doesn’t want to say, actually, I’m struggling a little bit here. So that honest relationship is really important.

What is the support like at Team Fostering?

Never underestimate how difficult it is, that first night when you’ve got a child you don’t know that comes and lives in your house and everything that comes with that. The mentoring scheme that Team Fostering does work really well.

I always encourage my carers to come to support groups and they’ve made their own little support group. We have group supervision three or four times a year – at Christmas we picked a restaurant at Middlesbrough College where one of the young people is learning to be a chef. So it was really nice to go there and then talk to him afterwards.

I’m really proud of my Foster Carers.

What’s the most rewarding part?

It’s seeing a Foster Carer develop and flourish and grow. So when you’re doing a Foster Carer review, you can think, my gosh – 12 months ago, there’s no way that you would have spoken in a meeting or there’s just no way you’d have that confidence to do that.

And just the young people. I like that Team Fostering don’t mind if I go on activities, they don’t mind if I take children out. Because often with the world of social work as it is now, social workers just don’t have the time.

So I like it that I know everything about my children. They feel comfortable, seen, and we have a laugh. It’s good.

What are some of your best memories?

We’ve just been to a national award ceremony in Manchester for a young person with foetal alcohol syndrome. She’s at a special school and school nominated her to receive an award. We had such a good time on the train and when we got to the awards, she actually won both of them. She’s just grown so much and it is a massive achievement. She was so chuffed with that, she was buzzing. And it was that feeling you get like you’re a proud parent.

Another memory is when I got invited to a Foster Carer’s wedding and that was so lovely. Seeing the two children that she’s fostering, one was a page boy, one was a bridesmaid, and just to be included in that. I was honoured to go.

We’re all like a little family, but in a way that’s still got those professional boundaries.

Do you have any advice for potential Foster Carers?

I always say to carers just look what’s out there. It’s not about the money for me, it’s about the support. It’s about doing it alongside your Supervising Social Worker. Read the Ofsted reports of every independent agency. Know the difference between Local Authority and independent agencies, because there is a big difference there.

And go with your gut feeling.

If you’d like to talk to us about joining Team Fostering as a foster carer, you can call us on 0800 292 2003 or complete our online enquiry form here.