Overview of Becoming a Fostering Family Training Programme
The process of preparing potential foster parents is essential. The right support and approach has a big impact on the likelihood of successful placements. A key factor is therapeutic parenting – an approach which underpins our Becoming a Fostering Family programme.
Becoming a Fostering Family (BFF) is a preparation-to-foster programme, created by experienced, passionate practitioners. It complements your existing in-person sessions, reduces costs and grants applicants essential knowledge and reflective skills.
Cost-effective and flexible, BFF reduces groupwork hours while more than doubling the impact of in-person learning – ensuring applicants and assessors get the most out of every session.
Applicants complete in-depth online sessions first, so they arrive at their two face-to-face days with deeper insight into attachment and therapeutic parenting. You can choose to use your own materials for these sessions or adopt Flourish’s supporting resources.
With real-world examples and guided personal reflection, participants will:
- Explore how their own experiences shape the way they parent, including existing relationships and birth families.
- Reflect on their childhood and attachment style
- Learn therapeutic approaches to help connect with children who’ve experienced trauma or loss.
- Learn the importance of engaging openly and reflectively with their Assessor and Social Workers.
- Build the confidence and skills to create safe, lasting placements where children feel they belong.
Aims of Becoming a Fostering Family Training Programme
- Provide a reliable pathway to becoming a foster parent, forming part of the official approval process.
- Support participants on their approval journey by providing essential knowledge and a therapeutic skillset.
- Equip participants with the knowledge and skills to apply therapeutic parenting approaches, leading to more sustained and supportive placements.
- Inspire potential foster parents to take the next step in the application process by boosting their confidence.
- Aid in supporting sustained foster placements by giving foster parents the tools they need to appropriately deal with challenges.
- Help to identify suitable foster parents early in the process, saving local authorities and agencies time and money preparing unsuitable candidates
