Mother and baby foster placements

Mother and baby foster placements, also known as parent and child fostering, is a common type of foster care. As a mother and baby foster carer, you would be allowing a family the opportunity to stay together during a difficult period of time. This type of fostering is a specialist type, which requires specialist training, as it involves taking care of both a young baby and a young mother or parent.

What is parent and child fostering?

Fostering young mothers and babies refers to a type of fostering placement where the mother or father, or in some cases, both parents, are placed into foster care alongside their baby, child or children. Typically, this sort of situation arises when a mother or parent is in a difficult situation in which they are unable to care for their child. It’s not unusual to see that the mother is still a young person herself, and potentially still in the foster care system.

This situation could also occur if the mother, or parent, is not be ready for the responsibility of having a child. Family support and guidance is integral to a young mother – and it may be that they are short of this. That’s where parent and child fostering can step in to help facilitate positive change to a mother and baby’s life.

Fostering young mothers and babies can be an extremely rewarding type of foster care as, not only are you taking care of a young baby, but you’re showing a young person in need how to care for their own child and teaching them life skills.

When would a mother and her baby come into care?

There are various reasons as to why a mother and baby may be in care - there could be concerns for the parent’s safety and they both need a safe space to stay. There could be concerns over the mother’s parenting, as she may need additional support from both foster parents and social workers. Some mothers that come into fostering placements may have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, or they may have had a child before that have previously been taken by care. Therefore, social workers may feel that they are in need of an assessment, to see if their parenting skills are sufficient – this may be the case if the parent has displayed a lack of co-operation before.

Many of the mother and baby placements will most likely be a young person who hasn’t had any previous experience with children. There could also be concerns over the parent’s own self-care, or they could have a learning difficulty or developmental issue which means they are unable to conduct their own self-care. Whatever the scenario, FosterCare UK is onboard to help you with specialist support to best facilitate your mother and baby placement.

Types of parent and child fostering

• Pre-birth placements: this placement helps the parent prepare for the arrival of their child, which best helps the mother to understand both her needs, and the needs of the baby.
• Assessment placement: these placements are conducted in order to assess the parent’s ability to take of the child – an assessment placement usually lasts 12 weeks.
• Parenting supporting placements: these are offered in two scenarios, either the parent needs guidance with their child’s general needs, or sometimes, the parent just simply needs a safe place to stay with their child.

What is the mother and baby fostering allowance?

Generally, a parent and child fostering allowance will be provided to cover the financial responsibilities of caring for a child. This is typically an independent financial cost that will be given to the parents in care to learn the basics of being able to effectively handle money and provide them with a taste of independence.

However, it’s important to note that this allowance does not come of the standard fostering allowance that the carer would be provided with to care for the mother and baby. Learn more about how much foster parents get paid from our detailed guide.

Looking to find out more information about mother and baby foster placements? Get in touch with a member of our helpful team.