Children who need fostering
Find out more about the 500 children in our care looking for safe and loving foster families.
In Buckinghamshire we have over 500 children in our care looking for a foster family that can provide them with a safe and loving home.
About the children
The names of the children have been changed, but the profiles below are true examples of stories of children in Buckinghamshire who have recently been placed with their new foster family.
Jake and Caitlin
Jake and Caitlin are 8 and 5 years old. They are active children who enjoy being outside. Jake likes superheroes and is often found dressed up as Superman. Caitlin enjoys colouring and drawing, and her current carers joked that new carers will need ‘plenty of paper’ for her.
Sadly, Jake and Caitlin came into the care of the local authority after experiencing emotional abuse.
Aanya
Aanya is 13 years old. Aanya’s current carers say she is an ‘absolute pleasure to care for and a joy to be around. She is happy, bubbly and friendly and loves to talk. She responds well to structure and routine and likes to have a plan for her week.’
Aanya has an incentive chart in place and generally achieves her reward on a week-to-week basis and is very positive in her day-to-day outlook.
Lily and Beth
Lily and Beth are aged 8 and 6. They have been in their current foster on a short term basis but are ready to move to a long-term home with permanent carers.
When her carer recently asked her what her favourite thing to do is, Lily said it was being outside in the paddling pool. She enjoys being in the garden, building dens in the woods, climbing trees.
Riley
Riley is a bright and tech-savvy 14 year old who has experienced significant trauma and has previously been detained under the Mental Health Act.
Following multiple foster placement moves and living in a children’s home for 3 years, he now has therapeutic foster carers who make him feel safe and support his emotional needs.
Maya
Maya is 16 years old. She was exposed to neglect and trauma due to her family members’ drug use and is at high-risk and has a history of substance abuse as a result.
Her carers give her the high-level support through relapse prevention, emotional regulation, and provide a safe space for her to focus on her education and embrace her passions and hobbies.
Who needs fostering?
Our children come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and include:
There are children and young people with complex behavioural and emotional needs who need a stable family home following multiple placements or living in children’s residential homes which were not a suitable environment for them.
We need more foster carers who can provide the specialist therapeutic care these children and young people need to support their needs and build a positive future.
Where possible, it is important for children to be placed with foster families who share the same cultural and ethnic background as they do.
This is to ensure a child can feel safe and understood in their new environment, which can be difficult at such an emotive time.
Unfortunately, we have a shortage of foster carers from ethnic minority backgrounds, so this is not always possible.
Most of the children in care are part of a sibling group, meaning that they are in care with their brother and/or sister.
It is vital that brothers and sisters are kept together in foster care to provide children with security and familiarity at what can be a distressing time.
If you have more than one spare bedroom, we would encourage you to consider fostering brothers and sisters together.
A significant number of the young people in care are teenagers (between 11 and 18 years of age).
We need foster carers who can offer guidance, support and patience as young people reach a crossroads into adulthood.
There are hard parts to it, but there are hard parts to any part of bringing up children...you have support from fostering and you’ve got support from other foster carers. Definitely go for it.”
Get in touch
Reach out to our friendly fostering team.
You can call us or book a time and we'll call you back for an initial chat.