Chloe joined TACT in January 2025. Starting out as a social work assistant, she qualified as a Supervising Social Worker in 2016. She talks about growing in a household that fostered, and how the experience ultimately influenced her choice of vocation.

I was 15 when my family were approved as foster carers, but would have probably been around 14 when we began the fostering assessment.

I was always aware growing up that fostering was something my mum wanted to do. She had worked with children and young people in various voluntary roles throughout my childhood. I don’t really remember the first time fostering was brought up if I’m honest, but I do remember being fully involved in the early stages, meeting our assessing social worker and her manager before the assessment began.

We had a rescue dog at the time, who wasn’t very well trained, and I vividly remember him snagging the managers tights where he had jumped up to say hello – thankfully this didn’t go against us! I remember exchanging a look with the assessing social worker as if to say ‘uh–oh’ when he did it! Needless to say, we did have to do some work with him around the jumping up. He was a lovely dog, aptly named Rascal, and all of the children who lived with us loved him.

I recall the assessment process and would look forward to our social worker coming to see us. She ended up being our supervising social worker once we were approved and I credit her with my current career choice – she had a huge impact on our family and supported us through some of the very best times, and also some of the challenges! I also went to panel with my parents so felt fully involved throughout the whole process. Being fairly young at the time, matching was important to our family, and our fostering service, and we all agreed that we wouldn’t want to care for anyone too close in age to me. So we always cared for children who were around two years younger, or older, than me.

I found welcoming a young person into the household easy.  No doubt at the time I’m sure there would have been some adjustment. I was the youngest of two siblings by five years, so was probably used to being the ‘baby’ and being spoiled, as my sister had moved out by the time we were approved. I’m sure there would have been some hurdles when getting used to caring for another child, but I honestly don’t recall them.

I can still remember the first time children came to live with us – they were about four and five years younger than me. I can still remember the overwhelming feeling of seeing a small child, sitting on our kitchen floor playing Lego with my dad. It struck me that we were now responsible for someone else’s children. Also, seeing such a small, vulnerable child playing with such a big man who was a complete stranger to him, was overwhelming and I became a little upset. I remember our social worker saying that this was normal.

I had a horse when we were younger and the children would love to come and see her, and they helped me look after her and ride her. They would come to competitions with me and cheer us on. It was always amazing to see children start to settle in our home, join local clubs and make friends in the area. We lived in a street where children would play outside, or in our garden – our house was usually full of the children’s friends in the paddling pool – or they would come along on holidays and days out with us.

It was always challenging when children moved on – sometimes home to their families, or sometimes because siblings needed to live separately. Sometimes things just didn’t work out and a move was needed for everyone. It was always a difficult time when a child left our house. They become a part of your family and then they are gone. We would always have a break when a child left us, so that we could regroup. Our supervising social worker, and the whole team, were so supportive and always knew what to say to us during these upsetting times. They never pressured us into caring for another child until we were ready.

I learned so much through fostering. We cared for a number of babies during our approval, who were able to return home to the care of their parents. While this was upsetting at the time, we were able to keep in touch with some families and I learnt a lot about working with other people and accepting everyone for who they were. Fostering really made me realise that everyone has their challenges, and most people are doing their best with what they have.

I had work experience opportunities through our fostering service – it probably wouldn’t be allowed today, however I used to help the staff at activity days and helped set up a ‘children who foster’ support group, where we would get together and do activities with other young people who fostered. My family fostering really set me on my current path – I had my heart set on being a vet and had started doing the relevant work experience and had chosen my A-levels based on this career path. I also think fostering ignited my passion for children who are looked after, ensuring that we assess and approve people who can provide them with a safe, loving, family home to call their own.

Fostering is such a rewarding vocation. Despite the challenges, I wouldn’t do anything differently and I’m so glad my parents did foster. The children we cared for taught me something different, and I cherish the memories we made. As a parent myself, I understand people’s reservations around fostering alongside your children, but honestly it only enriched my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

As a social worker, the level of understanding I have informs the empathy I have been able to show to the families I have supported. I also think this helps me impart knowledge and real-life experiences when working with applicants who have children. While I can be honest about the realities and challenges, I can also share the positive aspects of fostering and reassure families that it can really enrich their children’s lives. There’s never a ‘perfect’ time to foster – there’s never a perfect time to do anything, but if you do decide to foster with TACT, your team will support you and your children throughout the fostering journey. There’s no better feeling than knowing you’ve made an impact on a child’s life – and birth children can play a huge role in helping a child settle and thrive.

Read more about fostering and your own children.