Family Time in Fostering: How Birth Family and Sibling Visits Work
At The Homefinding & Fostering Agency, maintaining meaningful connections is at the heart of what we do. Spending time with family members helps young people understand their background, develop their sense of identity, and build confidence.
Whether you are considering foster care in Kent or are already on your care journey, here is an easy-to-understand breakdown of how family time works.
Why Family Contact Matters
Staying connected with loved ones plays a huge role in a foster child's emotional well-being. Wherever appropriate, children are supported to maintain relationships with parents, brothers, sisters, and other significant people in their lives.
Building Identity: Regular communication helps children process their life history and feel secure in who they are.
Child-Centred Planning: All arrangements are tailored around the child's wishes, feelings, and best interests.
Protected Right: Contact is never used or withdrawn as a behavioral sanction.
Types of Family Time
Every child’s situation is unique, which means family time arrangements vary depending on what is set out in their Placement Plan and Care Plan.
Family Time Type | How It Works |
Direct Family Time | In-person visits at designated venues, contact centres, or community spots. |
Supervised Family Time | Conducted with a designated observer present to ensure safety. Homefinding and Fostering carers are never expected to supervise parent or grandparent visits. On occasion, foster carers may only be asked to help facilitate sibling visits. |
Unsupervised Family Time | Permitted only when approved by the placing authority and clearly outlined in the Placement Plan. |
Indirect Family Time | Traditional letterbox contact, cards, or agreed phone calls, governed by clear agreements to keep the child safe and supported. |
Staying Connected with Siblings
Relationships between siblings are often the longest-lasting connections a child has. Keeping brothers and sisters in touch, whether through joint activities, shared days out, or social visits, is a top priority.
Foster carers play a wonderfully active role here, often coordinating with other foster families to host playdates or manage handovers so siblings can maintain strong, positive bonds.
Supporting Children Through Family Time
Family time arrangements are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain safe, meet the child's needs, and continue to work well for everyone involved.
Supervised family time reports are shared with social workers, and where children find family time difficult, foster carers are supported to provide reassurance, kindness, and emotional support, with agency support workers helping to ensure smooth transitions and handovers before and after family time.
Discover More with Homefinding and Fostering
Welcoming a foster child into your home means supporting their whole journey, including the ongoing relationships that shape their story.
If you are located in Kent and want to learn more about Homefinding and Fostering, our friendly team is here to answer your questions and guide you every step of the way. Reach out to us today to start your journey!
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