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Guides for foster carers

Practical help with the letters, life story work, hard weeks and goodbyes.

Written for foster carers across the UK. Terms, guidance and processes differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so check what your own fostering service expects.

• Example letters to a baby in foster care: the first four weeksFour real weekly letters to a newborn in foster care, names changed, with notes on what makes each one work.
• What is life story work? A plain guide for foster carersWhat life story work is, who leads it, and the practical ways foster carers help: photos, memories, letters and a life story book of the time with you.
• A simple letter template for foster carersA free, fill-in template for the weekly or monthly letter to a child in foster care: what goes in each part, with prompts you can copy.
• Example letters to children in foster care, by ageFour short example letters for a baby, a toddler, a primary school child and a teenager, with what makes each one work.
• What foster carers can keep for a child's life storyA practical list of the photos, papers and keepsakes worth keeping for a child in foster care, and how to keep them so they mean something later.
• Writing about hard weeks and family time in foster care lettersHow to write honestly and kindly about difficult days, family time and the birth family in a foster care letter, without labels, blame or promises.
• How to write a weekly letter to a child in foster careWhy the letters matter, what to put in them, and how to write for the adult the child will one day be. Practical tips for foster carers.
• My Chapters: Letters, a guide for social workers and admin staffWhat you receive when a foster carer sends a letter from My Chapters: Letters, how to file it by reference number, and how children's data stays private.
• Writing an ending letter when a child moves onHow foster carers can write a goodbye letter a child will keep, whether they're adopted, going home, moving on after a placement or becoming independent.