Meet Anabela- Our Placement Manager

What is your role at Nexus Fostering?

My name is Anabela Hansen and I am the Placements Manager at Nexus Fostering. I am part of the team that talks to Local Authorities about children who need a foster home and we then look at our carers available for a fostering placement and discuss the child or children with our foster carers and the Supervising Social Worker.

What is the role of the placements team at Nexus Fostering?

The role of the Placements team is to find the right matched child with our carers and we do this by talking to Local Authorities about children who need a foster home and we look at our carers available for a fostering placement and discuss the child or children with our foster carers and the Supervising Social Worker.

What is the referral process?

The referral process is the process where Local Authorities contact us and tell us about a child that needs a foster home to see if any of our carers would make a good match between the child and the foster family.

What do you consider when placing a child or young person with a family?

We consider so much when placing a child with a foster family. There are many different factors.

• There are practical factors such as location, where the child needs to be so they can maintain their school, friendships and contact with birth family.

• Ethnicity, religion

• We also look at the needs of the child, what that looks like, are there any risks that need to be considered and with that what type of placement would be most suitable for the child.

• We look at our carers available to foster a child, considering their needs too, if they have birth children, grandchildren or pets or anything else that needs to be considered to see if the child needing a foster family would make a good match with the foster family.

How does Nexus Fostering support families throughout the process?

Nexus Fostering supports families throughout the process by working together with the foster family and Supervising Social to consider the children that would make a good match for that individual family, considering specific factors about the family such as their birth children, grandchildren, pets, or any other factors that would need to be a consideration.

When we are referred a child that we feel may be suitable for one of our foster families we get in contact with them and share the information shared with us and work together to find out as much as possible about the child so that the foster family are well informed. This might be over a few days if it is for a planned placement, or over a few hours if it is an emergency placement. The foster family have the opportunity to ask questions that will help them decide if they feel they would be a good match with the child. They will also have discussions with the Supervising Social Worker to help them consider and talk things through. Our mentoring scheme has been set up to provide this peer support from experienced and established foster carers within Nexus Fostering.

Everything with regards to a referral and finding a match is done in conjunction with our foster carers and they will only ever get a placement that they are happy they can meet the needs of the child for. This can take quite a long time which means looking and considering a number of children, or it can happen quickly.

We also have different placement types that children may be placed with foster carers on, dependent on children’s needs and in turn to help support the carer to meet those needs. For example, we have 2 types of therapeutic placement types which support the carer to foster therapeutically.

How are decisions made regarding which child goes to which fostering family?

If it is agreed that our foster family can meet the needs of the child referred we inform the Local Authority about our carer, explaining the reasons the foster family would be suitable and then it is up to the Local Authority to decide. They may have a few options to decide from.

Are there enough foster carers to meet the demand you receive for placements?

No. Unfortunately, we get referred so many more children than we have foster families available for and since there is a matching process between child and carer, just because we are referred a child does not mean any carer available for a foster placement can be put forward, there are many considerations on what would be suitable.

Why is the assessment carers go through so important?

The assessment carers go though is important because it informs us about the foster family, their life experiences and skills that allow us to make good informed decisions and on match the right children with the right carer.

What happens if the match isn’t right for a Nexus Fostering family?

We inform the Local Authority that we do not have any suitable foster carers available at that time. We work hard to consider the right match for a child and carer.        

What types of fostering are available at Nexus Fostering? Is there a difference in demand for different types?

P&C

Therapeutic Placements

Siblings

UASC

Complex

The types of placements that are most in demand at this time are therapeutic placements, closely followed P&C and siblings.

Do all children and young people have the same needs and requirements?

No, and this is looked at as part of the referral process and we work with our foster families to see what skills and experience they have that would be suitable for each individual child that is referred to Nexus.

Should carers decide what type of placement they would like to have, or the age of the child they would prefer when becoming a foster carer?

Carers will have an idea of what they feel the type of placement or age would be most suitable or preferred for them but I would say it is good to keep an open mind as children of the same age can be very different for example.

Can anyone foster?

To foster with Nexus Fostering, you have to be over 21 years of age - there is no upper limit and you need at least 1 spare bedroom available to foster. There are certain checks that are carried out as part of the assessment process such as a DBS and medical checks and it is best to speak to us directly for individual situations.

Is there any reason someone may not be able to foster?

There are some criminal convictions that would prevent someone from becoming a foster carer.

What do you look for in a foster carer?

Genuine interest in children

Empathy

Resilience

Patience

Compassion

How does Nexus Fostering provide local support to carers?

We have a community of carers and regularly hold support groups, both online and in our offices, or sometimes at carers’ own homes if they prefer. We also hold support groups specific to certain carers to support in their area of fostering so for example a support group for carers that provides P&C placements, or UASC placements. We have local offices that foster carers can visit and these are where we also hold training.

If someone was thinking about fostering, what would your advice be?

Talk to different providers.

Read the most recent Ofsted inspections.

Check how long the provider has been established. 

Talk to the provider, get a feel for the provider, and ask questions.