Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
Reasons for a child to be taken into Care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Foster Care in TV and Film
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
Children who are abused sexually are being persuaded or forced to participate in sexual activities. They may not understand they are being abused, nor that what is happening to them is wrong. In many instances they may feel too scared to speak out.
There are two types of sexual abuse. Contact abuse and non-contact abuse.
Contact abuse is where an abuser makes physical contact with a child. It includes:
Non-contact abuse involves non-touching activities such as grooming and exploitation. It includes:
(Source: NSPCC)
Sexual violence is any unwanted sexual act or activity. There are many different kinds of sexual violence including:
Sexual violence can happen to anyone, and the victims of any age. The perpetrator could be a complete stranger, or someone you know or even trust such as a partner, friend or family member.
(Source: Rapecrisis.org.uk)
Children who are abused may:
The most vulnerable age group of sexual abuse and violence victims are females age 16 – 19, they are more than four times more likely to be victims.
For teenagers who are new to dating and beginning to experience relationships of a sexual nature, It can be challenging to recognise they may be in an abusive relationship. Signs of abuse in a teen’s relationship could be if their partner:
(Source: Rainn.org)
The use of new technology has become integral in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The internet allows perpetrators to anonymously target victims quickly and freely. Children have access to technology which allows them to communicate with people they otherwise would not.
Some of the signs that a child is being abused online:
Online groomers often build a relationship with children as friends on social media or gaming sites, only steering the conversation towards a sexual nature once they have the child’s trust. This can lead to the groomer sending or requesting photos of a sexual nature which they ask they child to keep secret. They may blackmail the child by threatening to share the pictures with family and friends or even set up a meeting with the child. Some children don’t realise they have been groomed and think the person is their girlfriend or boyfriend.
(Source: internetmatters.org)
75% of children who are sexually abused do not tell anyone about it and many keep their secret all their lives. If someone confides in you that they have been sexually abused it’s important that you are supportive, compassionate, calm and understanding. The victim may be feeling ashamed, isolated and frightened. By confiding in someone about the abuse they have suffered they are demonstrating a huge amount of strength. Sexual abusers are likely to be someone known to the child – 8 out of 10 children know their abuser, they could be a family member, friend, baby sitter or neighbour. The closer the relationship of the abuser and victim, the more likely it will remain a secret.
The police and children’s social services are experienced in responding to suspected child sexual abuse and will deal with it sensitively with the child and their family. If the abuse happened in the past it’s important to establish what the person needs and if this is the first time they’ve spoken about the abuse. They may want to find out about how they can report the abuse, or be looking for advice, or they may just need to share what happened with someone.
It’s important to believe a child who tells you they are being abused as they’d rarely lie about it and would be more likely to deny the abuse than open up about it due to fear and shame. At the same time adults must stay calm and reassure the child. By getting angry the child may become frightened as they may have been warned they’d get into trouble by their abuser if they told anyone. Instead be caring and let them know they have done nothing wrong and you are glad they came to tell you.
The perpetrator of the abuse needs to be held accountable for their actions and get specialised help from professionals. If the police or children’s social services are not contacted here are some points to consider if you speak to someone who has or may have abused:
If you have been confided in about sexual abuse it can be a time of trauma and it’s important to recognise this and get help to cope with the emotions challenges and decisions you face.
The more you are able to cope the more you can help the child who has been abused and the family. This is a time to turn to a friend, family member, counseller or therapist for emotional support.
(Source: parentsprotect.co.uk)
Here are some useful links for anyone needing support on any matters to do with sexual abuse and sexual violence:
www.rapecrisis.org.uk – Specialist services for women and girls
www.thesurvivorstrust.org – Umbrella organisation for sexual violence survivors
www.nspcc.org.uk – Children’s charity working to prevent abuse
www.napac.org.uk – Supports adult survivors of all types of childhood abuse
survivorsuk.org – Supports men who have experienced rape or sexual abuse
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.