Halima

Halima is a care leaver. At the age of six she went into foster care with her brother who was eight at the time. She now goes to university but is still very much part of her foster family. This is Halima's story in her own words.

We were taken into care because our mum was a single parent who struggled with alcohol misuse and didn't look after us properly. My brother and I were simply told that ‘mummy can’t take care of you properly on her own, so you will live with other people to make sure you get what you need’ and this seemed enough for us to understand at the time.

We were fortunate enough to be placed in foster homes together. We lived in three different homes in our first year in care until they could match us with a long-term foster placement, this was our fourth and final foster family and we settled in well.

Unfortunately, five years later, our foster parents went through a divorce which resulted in us living with our foster mum and seeing our foster dad at weekends. Although it was a hard time, it helped us feel like a normal family as many parents get divorced and many of my friends had shared time with their parents. Within the year, our placement broke down with our foster mum as she didn’t deal with the divorce very well. Lancashire County Council put our needs first and understood that our foster dad was also family to us, and we were allowed to stay with him long-term.

Although my fostering journey hasn’t been easy or smooth, it has given me a family for life. I still see my foster dad (who my brother and I continue to call dad) as I am part of a *'staying put’ agreement. This stability, dad's support and love has pushed me to achieve my goals, which is why I am now at university studying social work. Something I have always been passionate about is caring for others, possibly linked to caring for my brother from a young age when he struggled to speak and I had to speak for him. Passing my first year at university is my biggest achievement, as I was three years behind at school when I first went into foster care, and I had to have extra tuition to get through my GCSEs. University would never have been a consideration if I hadn’t been placed in care and I am forever grateful for the support of my foster family.

Being in long-term foster care has provided me with so many opportunities I would never have experienced if I had been living with my mum, from the small things like one-to-one ‘homework time’ to big adventures like holidays abroad. I have experienced true friendships, family, love, support, guidance and adventure! All of these factors have created my strong willed, confident and open-minded personality. My brother and I are part of a loving and supportive family and always will be, which wouldn’t have been possible without dad caring for us on a long-term fostering placement for the last 13 years. He does whatever he can for us and sees us as his own.

*Staying put means fostered young people have the right to stay with their foster families when they reach 18, if both parties agree.

This is a real-life case study, but we have changed the name and image of the young person to protect their identity.