The role of a Therapeutic Led Care foster carer: Tracey Madigan
Date published
21 May 2024
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The Experience of a Therapeutically Led foster carer.
Based in Sussex and Surrey, Tracey has been a foster carer with Blue Sky Fostering for over a decade. In that time she's witnessed a lot of changes within the world of fostering, as well as the growth of Blue Sky Fostering as a fostering agency.
A Journey of Therapeutic Foster Care and Communication Breakthroughs
As part of our 'Fostering Moments' series, she describes being part of the pilot of our now highly regarded Therapeutically Led Care programme. Tracey achieved a real communication breakthrough when she decided to write a book for the boy in her care. As well as demonstrating how valued he was, it also helped navigate a complex conversation, using language and situations that were familiar to the young person staying with her.
Tracey explains:
“This was for a 9-year-old who had been in care for a number of years. No one had explained why he was in care, so he believed it was his fault. He saw a book I had made for my daughter one Christmas and asked if I thought he would get one.”
Helping a foster child understand their situation
Tracey then decided to use the book to contextualise the boy’s history, enabling them both to broach his past in a way that was unconfrontational and easy for him to understand.
Watch the video:
Category
Fostering insights
Topics
- Foster Carer
- Therapeutic
- Young person
- Advice
- Support
Date published
21 May 2024
Fostering Skills
“I had never done anything like this before and was just trying to think outside the box of how I could help this young person understand it wasn’t their fault that they were in care. The hardest part was deciding on the best setting that was relevant to the child. This is definitely something I would do for another child to help them understand a situation they thought was their fault. I would also be happy to help other carers to write one for their placement.”
Tracey
Fostering Fortnight: Fostering Moments
This week is Foster Care Fortnight, which this year focuses on fostering moments: ‘the moments that built confidence, made young people feel safe and created memories.’ Tracey’s story is a brilliant illustration of that.
Read The Journey by Tracey Madigan:
