Promoting resilience in fostered children and young people
Conclusion
This guide looked at how professionals can make a difference to young people's experience of foster care. It has looked at:
- how you (a childcare professional) matter
- why you matter
- ways in which you can make a difference
Research shows that focusing on the strengths of young people is crucial to future outcomes. This means focusing on 'resilience factors', or things that help children and young people do well in unpromising conditions.
Professionals play a crucial role in promoting the strengths of young people by supporting caring relationships, ensuring that school is a positive experience and findings ways of bolstering self-esteem and self-efficacy.
The guide has aimed to benefit your practice by:
- helping you to engage in debates in your own agencies about what policies will best serve children and their families
- providing a short, accessible review of the knowledge base on adopting a resilience-based approach to assist you in your own cases
- identifying practice examples of where social work and social care agencies work positively to support the strengths of children and their families
The guide has looked at ways that you, as a childcare professional, can help foster the future success of fostered children and young people.