THERE are a number of foster parents in Guyana who have given children a stable, secure home. Fostering is not a permanent solution for a child in care, but it does offer a child some normalcy to their otherwise upsetting ordeal of being separated from their family. It is always hoped that one day the child will be reunited with his/her family.
Foster families make a huge difference to a child’s life, because children need to belong, they need to bond with people and feel love, trust and security. Regardless of their age, children need to be around people who care for them, people they can depend on. People with whom they can sit and have a meal , people who make them feel welcomed. They need people they can share with: holidays, festivals, good times and even hard times.
Dependency during childhood is normal; during adolescence, children tend to spend more time with their peers discovering the world from a new perspective as they prepare to embark on adulthood. But they still need adults: positive adult inputs in their lives are a substantial part of the building blocks that make up their existence. Without these inputs, children and young people often fail to reach their fullest potential, they can become adults who are lacking in social/emotional development.
When children miss out on some of the basic foundational factors that help them develop into rounded adults, it can’t simply be ‘fixed’ when they are adults, that is why we must find ways to help them while they are young and growing day by day and that is why fostering can make a huge difference to a child’s life.
The foster care unit works ardently to assess the status of children who could be placed with foster parents. Other CPA officers work with the parents of children in care, to help them provide an adequate home that hopefully will result in reunification. Children always prefer to be with their parents or family members. However, some parents never seem to get it right and some don’t even try; this means, there are children who have spent most, if not all of their childhoods in institutional care. Imagine what it must feel like for a child to leave institutional care at 18, without ever experiencing a family attachment?
Many potential foster parents who approach the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) show an interest in fostering a baby or young child. But these older children need to connect and feel like part of a family too. These are children who may have reached adolescence but have never felt the warmth of a family home or experienced the security that a family life can provide. They have never ‘belonged to’ or been a ‘part of’ anything but institutional care, therefore a whole chunk of social/emotional development is yet to be fulfilled before they embark on adulthood.
They need families who can offer this type of care and attention, it is almost like mentoring, but in fact it is bonding, guiding and assisting a young person’s development. It is inviting a young person into your home to be part of your family, to bond with your family, and share with your family, the way families do. Children who aged-out of the institutional care system (by turning 18) usually have a plan (for work to support themselves) and accommodation: however, what they do not have is the guidance and security of a family to whom they can turn, should they need to.
Adults, who come forward to help a child in this way, will be vetted and a police clearance will be obtained by the agency, but this is a small price to pay in order to help a young person. In helping him/her , you are assisting in the potential development of a whole generation. You can contact the foster care unit on 227-4082
If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, you can ring the CPA hotline 227 0979 or email chilcaregy@gmail.co
A Message from the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ministry of Social Protection