Could you ‘Bridge the gap’ in a young person’s life?

Bridgend County Borough Council has launched a new scheme which aims to recruit specialist foster carers to provide short term care for children and young people with a variety of complex needs and challenging behaviours.

Bridgend Foster Care’s new ‘Bridge the gap’ scheme aims to do just that – bridging the gap in a young person’s life to help them move on to either a long term fostering placement, return to their birth family, or live independently.

Each placement would be for up to 24 weeks, during which time the carers would build strong relationships with the young people, showing commitment and patience to help them overcome barriers and achieve their full potential.

The new transitional foster carer roles would suit experienced foster carers or somebody who works in a relevant field such as child care, social care, teaching or youth work.

Candidates for the roles need to be available to the young person at all times of the day. They must have a stable home, with a strong and supportive social network that understands the children’s needs.

Transitional foster carers will receive a competitive annual allowance of up to £34,000, dependent on the age of a young person and the length of their placement. A fee will still be received when carers don’t have a young person in placement as they will be expected to give support, advice and guidance to their fellow carers and provide respite care for other transitional foster carers if needed.

Bridgend Foster Care is the county borough’s biggest family, with 385 children and young people currently in foster care locally. Many of these young people have had a difficult start to life, and have varying complex needs. We’re looking for specialist carers who have the resilience to be able to maintain placements in challenging circumstances, and possess skills in dealing with attachment issues and reading children’s emotions to help them achieve their individual goals and ambitions.

The new transitional carers will be given everything they need in order to make the placements a success. This will include fortnightly visits from their supervising social worker, specialised training and development, as well as practical and emotional support from professionals and their fellow transitional foster carers.

Due to the nature of their work, they will also have access to an extensive wider network including a psychologist, other council hub staff and wellbeing outreach workers. Above everything else, they will gain a huge sense of achievement and fulfilment in playing a key part in a young person’s life.

Councillor Phil White, Cabinet Member for Social Services and Early Help

To find out more about the role of a transitional foster carer, please call Bridgend Foster Care on 01656 642674, email the fostering team at bridgendfostercare@bridgend.gov.uk .wales or visit the Bridgend foster care website.