A Short Guide for Taking Foster Children on Holiday
Foster children need to have positive experiences in life, and family holidays present the perfect opportunity for this. However, considering every child in care comes from a different traumatic background, you will need to check with your agency to find out if a holiday will be suitable. As well as this, the UK government has a set of fostering standards, which you need to meet at all times – you can find out more below.
Regulations and Rules
We’ve already mentioned the UK government’s national fostering standard – you can explore this further by following this link. Regarding holidays, it states ‘children can stay overnight, holiday with friends, or friends and relatives of their foster carer, or go on school trips, subject to requirements of individual care plans’. Essentially, this means that a family holiday with a foster child is acceptable, but it must not breach any individual care plan restrictions.
Understanding care plans isn’t always easy, especially if you have more than one foster child, whose needs will likely vary. Therefore, it’s recommended that you contact your foster agency’s website for support and direction, like fosterplus.co.uk.
Funding the Holiday
After getting the green light to take your foster child on holiday, you’ll put a budget in place. If you’re concerned about finding the available funds to cover any children in your care, many foster agencies provide additional allowances for activities during the school holidays. As well as this, you may be eligible for financial aid designed to facilitate family holidays.
Accommodation Considerations
Sharing a room while on holiday is a great way to reduce costs. However, you must ensure all foster children have a room of their own, which may complicate things and will add more expense to the holiday. Before making commitments to any accommodations, it’s wise to communicate with your case worker, as they may be able to provide further insights.
Alternatives to Going on Holiday
In some cases, you may have to give up on the idea of going on holiday with foster children, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t able to provide opportunities for unique experiences. For example, you can make use of this fantastic list of staycation inspirations, which all involve day trips from your home.
When you take a foster child on holiday, you’re providing them with unique experiences that they’ll remember fondly forever. According to UK regulations, there’s nothing to prevent you from taking a foster child on holiday, but you’ll need to make sure you meet any parameters outlined within individual care plans.
