A Fostering Case Study

Alfie aged 7 years old was placed in care after a thorough assessment and legal action. The Local Authority made several attempts to support and help the family.  However his parents were unable to parent Alfie, due to their own alcohol and drug misuse.

Historically there had been referrals and other evidence presented to the local authority, that Alfie he had been seen wandering the streets and asking for food, some of his neighbours often fed him.  He would take himself to bed and be late for school in the morning or not go at all.

At school Alfie was often quiet, anxious and found it

difficult to join in when he was there.  His attendance was poor.  He would often help the teacher with errands, which the teacher felt gave him a great deal of self worth and he preferred to talk to the teacher rather than his peers.  Alfie was often bullied at school by his peers because he appeared different to the other members of his class. Alfie was described as bright.

Alfie loved his mother and father and did not want to leave them, but was helped to understand why he could no longer live with his parents. 

Alfie was placed in long term foster care at the age of 8 years; previously he had experienced 5 placements with temporary foster carers. 

After taking the opportunity to meet his new foster carers Alfie went for tea and Alfie’s social worker came along too.  He liked them and so it was agreed another visit to the carers could take place.  He spent a little longer with them and enjoyed playing with the dog.  Again this was positive so Alfie wanted to stay for a night with his potential new foster carers.

The Local Authority, New Routes, the foster carers and more importantly Alfie wanted this to be his new home.  Alfie was worried that he would not see his parents, so his social worker made sure that there was contact arranged with his parents and other family members.

Alfie remained in the care of these foster carers, who successfully became his long term foster carers and remained there until he was 18 years old. This of course was not without difficulties.  For example Alfie although settling in his new foster home and finding his feet, began to open up to his carers and talk about things that he remembered.  The carers spent a lot of time, one to one, listening and supporting Alfie, helping him with his emotional trauma.  They had additional support from a therapeutic team provided by the Local Authority.  This meant lots of different appointments and meetings and therefore the carers were extremely busy on a day to day basis. 

The carers understood the importance of this work and felt it was important to help Alfie understand his experiences so far, to enable him to have a sense of his own identity and his self worth. 
Alfie grew with confidence and was a typical teenager testing out parental authority and progressing well in school.  He achieved his grades and his dream was to study Geology.  The carers supported him with his education and supported him when at university.

The carers worked closely with the Local Authority to ensure that Alfie’s wishes and ambitions were taken seriously, which they did.

Alfie’s life journey has been traumatic and difficult.  However with the right support and encouragement difficulties can be overcome.