Solution 28: Short-Term, Solution-Focused Fostering
The Solution 28 scheme provides children and young people with a supportive, stable home for a period of 28 days, whilst long-term provisions are arranged.
When a child unexpectedly enters the care system, whilst a permanent home is agreed upon, which may include finding the right permanent foster carer, or reunification with the family, it’s important that the child is placed in a safe, temporary home within familiar surroundings. Solution 28 allows the child to stay within the boundaries of their local authority, ensuring that they can continue to attend their current school during the 28-day period and have regular access to their social worker, with whom they are familiar, and their family if required. Hear about Solution 28 emergency fostering from Sharon and Ken, in an interview with BBC Radio Gloucestershire below.
The 28-day window allows appropriate long-term arrangements to be made that may include finding permanent foster carers who are right for that child, limiting the risk of multiple placements, and causing any further unnecessary distress. Solution 28 foster carers must be prepared to care for a child within a very short space of time, have space in their home to do so, and commit to the 28-day care of that child. You must be compassionate and patient, and able to provide stability, in an unstable time.
