Lisa & Andy: Choosing to Transfer and Fostering Long-Term

Lisa and Andy began their fostering journey with Fosterplus in October 2020, and one month later welcomed sibling boys into their family.

After transferring fostering agency for better support, they’ve built a stable, long-term home where their foster sons have settled, grown and flourished. Here, they share their experience of transferring agency, and the lasting difference long-term fostering can make.

Starting their fostering journey

For Lisa and Andy, a chance meeting with an experienced foster parent led to the couple looking into fostering themselves and discovering how they could make a difference to vulnerable children. Feeling inspired, they decided to take that leap and apply to become foster parents.

They felt nervous but excited about starting their journey. Lisa explained “you don’t know what to expect when you first go into it.”

Transferring to Fosterplus

After starting their fostering journey with another independent fostering agency, Lisa and Andy realised they weren’t getting the level of support they needed. Support is one of the most important things in fostering and receiving the right support from an agency will determine the success of your journey, and be the difference in ensuring a positive experience for your family and the children you care for.

“We wanted to transfer fostering agency because we weren’t feeling fully supported. Since we moved to Fosterplus, we have had so much more support. We couldn’t have asked for more.

We’ve been in situations previously where if I was to call our social worker at 4:50, they won’t answer. But at Fosterplus it was no problem whatsoever – any times there was an emergency, we phoned up and they supported us all the way through.”

Andy explained their reasons for choosing to transfer to Fosterplus:

“We chose to move to Fosterplus because they were open and honest answering the questions I asked them. You’ve got to be able to speak openly, and we thought ‘they have been honest with us – this is the agency for us’.

And you need that team around you, to support you, in order to be able to look after the children. We’ve been fully supported since we came to the agency. It’s completely different; like chalk and cheese.”

Another key area to look at when choosing a fostering agency to transfer to, is consistency and stability. Whether that is the stability and long-term difference of the foster care placements, committed teams who will stand by you, or the foster parents choosing to foster for many years – longevity tells an important story.

Andy explained: “At a lot of other agencies, people leave, so there’s always a change of people, which is not consistent for the children. We’ve had the same staff since we joined. All the way through. It’s very good. Retention at Fosterplus is fantastic – because people want to stay.”

The difference long-term fostering makes

For Lisa and Andy, long-term fostering has been the most rewarding part of their journey. They’ve seen first-hand how a secure, loving home can change a child’s life.

Lisa shared: “The benefits of fostering long terms are in how much the boys have changed and developed over time. They’re not the same children as when they came to us. Having been through so much, to come as far as they have, it’s amazing.”

“It’s all the joy you can get from the children – Just having the children around you and seeing how much they can change when they’ve had such a terrible time in the past. But by giving them that love, support and encouragement, they can succeed, they just need someone to give them that chance to show what they can do.”

Caring for children on a long-term basis helps them to feel more settled in the family, and it provides that real sense of security that they need.

Lisa added: “There’s a definite, sense of permanence. We refer to them as our boys, and they call us ‘mum and dad’.

“It was my birthday last week, and the youngest wrote me a card. It said ‘thank you for everything you have done. I am so happy that you are my mum’. And it was just amazing.”

The importance of support

One of the biggest changes Lisa and Andy noticed after transferring to Fosterplus was the presence of reliable and responsive support.

Lisa reflected on the support the couple receive from the agency: “We always receive lots of support from Fosterplus. Our social worker is fantastic. And we can always get in contact with someone – whether that’s our social worker or different members of Fosterplus – at any time, day or night. We have the out of hours number we can contact if we need support when the office is closed. We have contacted them a couple of times and they have been amazing and helped us so much in the times we’ve needed them.”

Thinking about fostering with Fosterplus?

Deciding to foster has been life-changing for Lisa and Andy – and they have transformed the lives of the two young boys in their care.

Reflecting on their past 5 years of fostering, Lisa shared “Fostering, on the whole, it’s hard work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

For anyone who is considering fostering, the couple’s advice is honest and heartfelt:

“Fostering has taught us that you do need patience, and you’ve got to be a problem solver. It is hard work. You have different things to deal with. Lots of different people coming in and out of your house. But it’s the children that make it so special. Watching them develop, and how much they change, it’s just a brilliant experience.”

“There are a lot of children that need a good family to help support them and give them the chance of a brilliant future. And it’s very rewarding.”

If you’re inspired by Lisa and Andy’s story and could offer a child a safe and loving home, please get in touch with our team to learn more.

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