Creating a safe and inclusive home for your foster child is a goal any carer can aspire to. Thankfully, it is really easy to do if you have the right attitude and pay attention during training sessions. The post below explores how foster carers can bring inclusivity to everything they do, so read on to find out more.
Celebrate the Differences Between You
No two people on this earth are exactly alike. It is, of course, easy enough to find people you connect with through shared interests and so on, but for an authentically inclusive home, foster carers must try hard to celebrate all of the ways they are different from their foster children. When you are fostering in Nottingham, it is highly likely that the children you look after will come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures and it is your job to make that as comfortable as possible.
Challenge Discrimination
Whether it comes from the mouths of the children that live with you, or those that you look after temporarily, a carer has the responsibility of fighting discrimination at the source. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, any form of bullying, harassment, or racist narrative must be tackled head-on. Your home is somewhere a child should feel safe, so it makes sense that advocating for fairness and equality starts there from you.
Be Mindful
It is always important to be mindful of the environment around you. This means, keeping a close eye on what your children are doing and saying every single day. Each interaction you have with them is important and will shape their opinion and development. So, if you want an inclusive home you have to forge it that way with your thoughts and actions. Mindfulness will help anyone to connect with the important things in life and step away from things that could be seen as harmful.
Treating People Equally
It doesn’t matter who lives in your house. What does matter is how they are treated. If someone feels as though they have fewer opportunities, or are being treated differently, they will carry this with them for the rest of their life. It is a foster carer’s job to think carefully about how they act and what they say so that anyone in their house is included and equal.
Be a Team
There is no better way to be inclusive than working as a team. It is fun to get children involved in things like cooking, routine, and days out planning and that is exactly what you should be doing. When you create a feeling of existing as a team in the home, everyone feels safer and a part of the unit. There are plenty of ways to get this done including shared house chores, meal planning and even taking turns with who gets to pick the family movie night theme. It doesn’t matter how small or big, each action counts.
Foster carers need to create an inclusive environment. As shown above, there are lots of ways this can happen, it just takes some energy and effort.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-and-woman-having-conversation-with-their-daughter-8205344/
