Issue 10 – Life stories

Foster journal Issue 10 (2020) was conceptualised as the country entered its Covid-19 public health restrictions. We were acutely aware of the immense challenges as well as the surprising rewards which foster families, children in care and the fostering support system experienced during this time. We recognised the importance of capturing the significance of this year and requested contributions from IFCA members who wanted to share their Covid-19 experiences. We also invited other first-hand accounts of foster care for this issue’s theme of Life Stories.

This issue opens with personal stories by Niamh Roche and Danielle, in which they share their experiences of being a foster carer and a child in foster care, respectively. Articles by Susan Laste and Anne McCluskey shed light on their families’ experiences during the first Covid-19 lockdown. In her article Susan describes how, during this time, her family supported their two foster children who have autism. Their journey since March 2020 gave them insights into ‘having patience, letting go and accepting things that cannot be changed’. Susan also speaks to the importance of the continuation of required therapies for children with additional needs during such a time. Anne McCluskey shares an account of her immersion, via online learning, in the Circle of Security Parenting training course during lockdown, and how she endeavoured to share this learning with her family.

The importance and significance of Life Story Work is described in articles by Bernadette Neville and by Sheila Scanlan, who shares her experience of supporting children in an orphanage in Kenya to express and document their life stories. This issue closes with a poem written by foster carer Sandie Cassin, which takes us on the shared journey of living through 2020.