Therapeutic reparenting
Children who have been deprived of proper care
and stimulation in their early years may not develop normally
and may show 'disorders of attachment'. They may:
- be depressed and withdrawn
- be over-active or aggressive
- be unable to respond appropriately to
events
- display many other behavioural
problems.
It can be difficult for their families or
carers to look after them. They risk being trapped in a pattern of
change and disruption. The therapeutic reparenting scheme helps
children aged between four and 13 towards achieving stability
and security in their lives.
Often they will have learned inappropriate
responses in the past and so the scheme allows them to regress and
then to relearn appropriate behaviour. The carer's task is to learn
about the child, understand what went wrong and work to put it
right. This might be by providing experiences that the child has
missed or helping them overcome traumatic events in their
lives.
As a therapeutic foster carer you will
undertake additional specialist and ongoing training. You will
be supported by a specialist social worker, a psychologist and
other foster carers.
Specially trained foster carers meet regularly
with a psychologist and other members of the support team to
identify what needs to be done. The key aims are to help the
children gain trust and stability so that they can begin to develop
properly and achieve at school.
Many children will not be able to return to
their parents' care - although continuing contact with their birth
families will usually remain important. In these circumstances, the
scheme's goal is to give each child the best possible chance of
successfully joining either an adoptive family or a long-term
foster family in the near future.
Are you an experienced carer?
Kent County Council is looking to recruit
foster carers across Kent for the Therapeutic Re-Parenting Scheme
for children aged between 4-11 years of age. As a therapeutic
foster carer you will be paid £591.50 per week to care for and work
with a child who has attachment difficulties.
Current Need
We particularly need carers to come forward to care for Mark and John.
We want more therapeutic reparenting programme
(TRP) carers, and carers who can offer
short breaks.
If you are experienced and want to discuss becoming a TRP carer
or find out more about TRP short break foster care, please give us
a call and we can arrange for a social worker to discuss the
programme with you.
We specifically need carers for these 3
young people, each has different needs, find out whether you could
care and offer them some stability:
- Adam is a young man who needs a
family.
- Amy needs short
break carers who can provide some extra help over 2
to 3 days during the week or over a weekend, this will involve
working in partnership with Amy's mother and a commitment to play a
part in her life for the foreseeable future.
- Chloe is a girl needing
support. She really wants to improve her life and knows she
needs a lot of help to do this.
Details of two children who are
being matched for long term families:
- Susan needs to be
the youngest or only child in the family and will need long term
stability.
- Jason is
academically bright, has a talent for English and needs a long term
family.
If you feel you have the qualities we
need and could be the right family for similar young people either
now or in the future please contact telephone an adviser on
0845 330 2968.
Other specialist schemes: