Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
How to choose a foster care agency
Can I choose who I 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?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
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
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
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?
What is the difference between residential care and foster care?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
What is Kinship Care?
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
How does therapeutic fostering work?
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Types of self-harm
A Guide to the Foster Care Handbook
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
What is an EHC Plan? 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
Movies About Foster Care
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
Why Foster Parent Wellbeing Matters
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
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
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Young People Charities
Parent Mental Health Day is an opportunity to pause and recognise something that is often overlooked: the emotional wellbeing of those who care for children and young people. For foster carers in particular, mental health is not a “nice to have”; it is fundamental to providing safe, stable, and healing homes for children and young people who have often experienced significant trauma.
Caring for children and young people can be emotionally demanding. Caring for children and young people who have experienced loss, neglect, abuse, or instability requires even greater levels of patience, emotional regulation, and compassion. Supporting foster carers’ mental health is therefore not only about carers themselves, but about achieving the best possible outcomes for children and young people in care.
Many foster children and young people have experiences that shape how they see the world and the adults within it. Trauma can affect a child or young person’s ability to trust, regulate emotions, manage behaviour, and feel safe in relationships. As a result, foster children and young people may present behaviours that feel challenging, unpredictable, or emotionally intense.
These behaviours are not a reflection of a child or young person being “difficult”, but a form of communication. Responding to these needs day after day requires foster carers to have a great level of understand behaviours and why they may be presented.
When carers take care of their own mental health, they are more able to:
When carers are exhausted, stressed, or emotionally overwhelmed, even the most experienced carer can find it harder to respond in the way they would want to.
Children and young people who have experienced trauma are particularly sensitive to the emotional states of the adults around them. They may be hyper-aware of tone of voice, body language, and emotional shifts, often as a result of earlier environments where unpredictability or threat was present.
A carer who feels supported and emotionally resourced is better able to provide:
This does not mean carers need to be “perfect” or unaffected by stress. In fact, children and young people benefit from seeing adults model healthy emotional expression and self-care. What matters most is that carers have the support and space to look after their own mental health, so they can continue to show up for the children and young people in their care.
Foster carers often put their own needs last. The desire to “cope”, to keep going, or to avoid letting others down can mean signs of stress, anxiety, or burnout are ignored until they become overwhelming.
Unchecked stress can lead to:
Recognising these signs early and responding with compassion rather than self-criticism is a vital part of sustainable fostering.
Protecting mental health is not a sign of weakness; it is a professional and caring choice. Foster carers benefit from:
On Parent Mental Health Day, it is important to acknowledge that supporting foster carers is a shared responsibility. When foster carers are supported emotionally, children and young people experience greater stability, stronger relationships, and more opportunities to heal.
Looking after mental health is not separate from fostering; it is part of it. By valuing the wellbeing of foster carers, we are able to strengthen the foundations of care, and help ensure that children and young people who have experienced trauma are met with patience, understanding, and hope.
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.
