Foster care is a crucial part of taking care of some vulnerable children. It offers them a stable home life, something that is vital for them but that they might be missing for a variety of different reasons, and that means they can get a much better start in life. It is highly unlikely that the world will ever come to a point where social workers and foster care are no longer needed, so if you want to work in this area, it’s a great choice when it comes to job security and long-term career prospects.
Yet social work is not the only career you can go into if you want to help children in foster care. There are many different roles that need to be filled, and each one is just as important as the next. Read on to find out what some of them are so you can make an informed decision about exactly what route is the right one for you.
Child Adoption Specialist
A child adoption specialist can work in either the public or private sectors, so even within this one career option there are still choices to be made; it is worth considering the pros and cons of each path so you know exactly what is going to suit you, your qualifications, and your soft skills the best.
As a child adoption specialist, you will most likely have qualified as a social worker and then moved on to a specialist in adoption. You will be working with families to find secure and happy homes for children to live in on a permanent basis. This is entirely different from the fostering service which seeks to reunite families eventually if possible. As a child adoption specialist, you will conduct interviews with potential adoptive parents, write reports, and ultimately determine who is a suitable candidate to take a child into their home forever.
Foster Care Case Aide
As a foster care case aide, you will work with social workers and agencies like thefca.co.uk in the foster system. In this role, you will be less ‘hands on’ with the foster children and families, but you will play an important part in ensuring that everything is done in the right way. Some of the tasks that a foster care case aide will carry out include:
- Completing paperwork
- Planning and scheduling meetings and interviews
- Compiling resources
- Providing transportation when necessary
- Prioritizing caseloads
- Finding advocacy for children in care
It’s clear that this is a vital role in the foster care sector, without which social workers would easily become overwhelmed and be unable to do their jobs in the right way, which could lead to problems for the children themselves.
Children And Family Advocate
Children and family advocate is a type of social worker. Their main role is to help families by ensuring both adults and children have good coping mechanisms in place. This can be a strange and even frightening time for all involved, but with a children and family advocate on hand to help, it becomes much easier.
Wellness plans, communication options, support, coping ideas, and much more are all in the remit of children and family advocate.
