11 Years Written by Strangers: Soon-to-Be Foster Parents

Foster Care Is A Journey Of Loss. Finding Susan

Report on proposed boarding-out.

29th May 1968

A foster home had been found.

Just A Note

30th May 1968

Dear Mr & Mrs T,

Just a note to say I’d like to bring Susan along on Friday morning at elevenish time, but I can’t be sure of the exact time. I have spoken to Ward Sister today who said Susan is putting on weight, still on four hourly feeds of cow & gate and apparently is a very hungry baby, makes a lot of noise and is more than ready for her feeds long before they are due. I’ll be able to give you more details when I see you on Friday.

And thanks for taking Susan so that we can give her a good start in life.

Yours sincerely

M Davies

Child care officer.

My Thoughts

The report from Davies (SW) states she had visited the foster home where i was to be placed, but it was only suitable for my needs for a period ‘Not Exceeding Eight Weeks’. Here i wonder if that is due to the foster parents only being short term carers or that my time in care was only meant to be temporary, either way here social services would fail me yet again as well as the foster parents, because I was with them for eighteen months.

A foster family had been found, and I wondered if they had been approached prior to my birth. As there is no mention of my ethnicity, maybe they had fostered children of colour before or they were in for a surprise. I know they were white as you will discover when we get to the first report.

The social worker was uncertain of an exact time i would be brought to them, that is because she would be in court the following day so i could be legally placed into foster care.

She writes that ‘i am a noisy baby‘, which is no surprise because I would have been distressed and unsettled. My crying would not have just been for feeding but for comfort and for my mum, no child should be born and left alone in a nursery only being handled by strangers for feeds and basic care. It breaks my heart to know this was my start in life.

The part of this note that is a real kick in the teeth is. ‘So we can give her a good start in life‘. I was already traumatised by being separated from my mum, so they were failing me with the best start, and it would only get worse.

Thank you for reading

Finding Susan

Coming Next, 11 Years Written by Strangers: The Foster Care Application