Throughout October, Black History Month is celebrated across the world every year. The month is designed to remember both important people and events in the history of the Black community in the West. Alongside understanding Black culture, it also aims to highlight the effects of racism and how to challenge negative stereotypes – something which is extremely important for therapeutic foster parents.
Within fostering, there is always a pool of children and young people who come from all different backgrounds, races and religions. Equally, there is a desperate push to recruit diverse teams of therapeutic foster parents so young people are homed with a family of shared beliefs and values. In the event children cannot be placed with a foster parent of the same culture, it’s still important that the family embrace their culture and help them to celebrate it if the young person wishes.
Here at Mosaic Foster Care, equality, diversity and inclusion is central to our beliefs as an organisation. We believe that each individual’s identity should be respected – no matter whether that’s a staff member, foster parent or child. Therefore, our team always put preparations in place to cater for everyone’s needs. Below are just a few examples of how we support our therapeutic foster parents in celebrating the culture and heritage of their children. We delight in the chance to celebrate cultures during Black History Month and aim to help spread the word of this important time.
Both the team at Mosaic Foster Care and our therapeutic foster parents are given extensive training to promote inclusion for our young people. This includes training to recognise signs of negative stereotyping and how to address this personally. Also, in the event a child is placed with a family who have no knowledge of the cultural background the child has come from, we make sure to provide resources to educate them about the values, beliefs or practices. This way, the young person can be introduced into a respectful and comforting environment. If you are thinking of becomeing a therapeutic foster parent, but are worried that you may not have all the knowledge to support a child from a background other to yours, fear not! We are there every step of the way to support you.
For young people, identity is extremely important and can help to develop good self-esteem and confidence. Black History Month helps us to refocus on cultural identity and how important knowing our own cultrue is. Many foster children struggle with identity due to living with different therapeutic foster parents who potentially may not be from the same culture and background as them and potentially moving around the country. That is why here at Mosaic Foster Care, we are fortunate to have our in-house therapists who work with our young people on a frequent basis. As part of the young persons’ development programme, our therapists can help a young person clearly understand who they are and what their background is. We as an agency aim to understadn each young persons cultural background and in this way we look to celebrate difference.
Mosaic Foster Care are always looking for open-minded, therapeutic foster parents to provide long-term foster care - as well as supportive (respite) foster care. If you feel you can provide a safe and nurturing environment for a young person, we would love for you to get in touch with Mosaic Foster Care.
Give us a call on 07723 117928 or fosteringenquiries@mosaicfostercare.com to find out more information.
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