What are children's care homes like?

Answer 1

they live there.

it's not like the 'dog pound' where if they're there for too long that they get put down but they just lived there and maybe get fostered (a short-term adoption thing) or adopted (a long-term fostering thing).

if that didn't help, try wiki or see Tracy Beaker (Returns) (the Story of...) on BBC iplayer.

NRBB

Answer 2

There is two types: foster family & residential homes.

FOSTER CARE:

Foster families are like any other family, which can have multiple children living there, just each individual child (may or may not be siblings) has a Social Worker who make decisions for them- depending on what court order the child has been taken into care under - if a social worker has good evidence that a child/ren are not being looked after by their birth parents, a judge can grant an order for the kids to be forcefully taken from their parents for the childs safety.

Another order is an Voluntary Order - where the parent volunteers to give the child/ren up (this can be a number of reasons - homelessness, mental health, domestic abuse, etc) and then the rules slightly change, because the social worker might have to go to the birth parent/s and ask for permission for decisions in the child's life, which can delay important paperwork (example - passport forms, school applications, school tour trips).

RESIDENTIAL CARE:

this is a house, where multiple children live, but there are no "parents" - they are Care/key workers. These are people who have been trained in the field of Social Care and other specific areas.

depending on the type of facility - high or low security, specific age grouped homes, aftercare homes, respite homes, half way homes, etc, these Care Workers are in the house for a number of hours, some day shifts, some night shifts, some weekend shifts.

Some kids do not suit this set up (due to the high number of staff and young people arriving and leaving every day, which is highly unsettling), some do.

****I have lived in both settings.

Answer 3

Foster care is living with another family, that's all. Nothing special happens. You still go to school, get new friends etc.