Blog: Chiin
Chiin Guite has worked as a social worker for twenty years and remains passionate about the way fostering can help nurture the potential of children in care.
As a Social Worker my heart is in fostering because this is where the substantial and meaningful outcomes for children can be achieved. I am proud to be part of a team that makes a positive impact in the lives of our Looked After Children.
Fostering a child is a big ask, a huge life changing responsibility that carers take on.
I am in awe of foster carers who persist and work on consistently providing nurture, care, and the parenting our children need despite the push backs and challenges they are often presented with. They do this alongside maintaining their professional development and meeting required standards for fostering.
The most satisfying moments for me included seeing a child learn to trust a parent figure again. This trust, once established with a foster carer, opens a whole new world filled with positive outcomes. They allow themselves to be the child they are, focus on play, concentrate at school, form, and maintain, healthy friendships and learn new age-appropriate independent life skills.
Foster Carers can help with what may seem to be simple, domestic tasks that we take for granted. As young people grow up, they benefit from learning how to keep their bedroom tidy, prepare occasional simple meals, how to manage their laundry and to keep themselves safe when out and about independently. These everyday skills help them to grow their confidence step by step.
Successful foster carers also take a keen interest in what's going on at school, in friendship groups, making sure young people are encouraged to attend any meetings with social workers. This reassures the young person as they know the carers are looking out for them and that they are interested in their life and what is going on. This makes a significant difference and can spur young people on to have ambition and self-belief about education and future career options.
It can be hard for a young person to accept these inputs and, where a foster carer can gently help them to see their progress, supporting them in their journey, no matter how gradual, this works well for both the young person and their foster carers.
