Therapeutic Fostering provides the same core care and support that every child needs and deserves. However our service offers many additional support elements for Foster Carers and the child. As you may expect these children have a variety of additional, and often complex, needs. Their needs might be linked to past trauma, abuse or a severe disruption to their life which they have experienced. These experiences would have taken place before being placed into foster care, so an Empower Therapeutic Foster Carer (ETFC) is specifically trained to deliver the support and care which explores, recognises and, with time and patience, begins to understand and process the trauma.

Empower Therapeutic Foster Carers (ETFC) are trained to follow the PACE model, developed by Dr Dan Hughes, founder of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). We also draw on Kim Golding's House Model as well as other approaches. We compliment this with additional therapeutically informed training which educates and equips our therapeutic foster carers with the specialist skills and practical tools needed. ETFC's become part of Empower's therapeutically informed multidisciplinary team, having access to additional practical support from an Empower Therapeutic Change Worker (ETCW). This specialist multi-disciplinary team will meet regularly and look at the child’s needs on every level, learning about their trauma, understanding and developing ways to support them together. By working together as a team it will allow us to know how to care for foster children who need this higher level of support in the most effective and nurturing way possible.

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Training and Support

We have designed and developed a bespoke ETC program which is unique to Empower – being part of our Multidisciplinary Team as an ETFC you will work alongside other professionals. This is a specialist therapeutic fostering program which is designed to provide enhanced support, with practical and educational resources for our Foster Carers and the children referred to our program. Our service provides more children with the opportunity for greater longevity in a stable family home, which will be supported by an informed therapeutic team.

Our ETFC's are provided with additional support, ongoing therapeutic foster care training, as well as practical support with access to your own ETCW who is also therapeutically trained, to better assist and guide you through the logistics of being part of this specialist team. They will provide pragmatic and meaningful assistance designed to be supportive to our carers and young people. As an ETFC, your role will be to provide the secure family setting like our other extraordinary Foster Carers would, but also provide the therapeutic environment and practical support that helps the young person on their journey to recovery.