In unfortunate situations where both parents of a child are dead, or for some other reason cannot take care of their offspring then a full time carer will need to be found. In this type of situation social services will step in and find the child foster parent or a suitable family willing to adopt the child.
Foster care is designed to provide a stop-gap childcare solution, that is to say, it isn't supposed to be a permanent arrangement; although this is the case, there have been many instances where a child has been in long-term foster care with one foster family for many years.
Foster care is designed to provide a stop-gap childcare solution, that is to say, it isn't supposed to be a permanent arrangement; although this is the case, there have been many instances where a child has been in long-term foster care with one foster family for many years.
In some cases Social Services will use the services of foster parents whilst they try to find the child permanent childcare, in the form of either long-term foster carers, or adoptive parents.
On occasions, such a bond is formed between the child and foster parents that they ultimately seek to adopt the child.
It can sometimes be quite difficult for Social Services to find foster parents, or adoptive parents, for older teenage children. This is because they are often more of a challenge to discipline and care for than younger children due to emotional scaring during their younger years. Also, teens generally are more of handful than you younger children due to the problems associated with adolescence and puberty.