Life Story Tools

Each foster family produces a welcome booklet containing photos and information about their family. This may include information about their home, pets and lifestyle, which helps to make the looked after child or young person feels at ease in their new environment. 

Each child receives a copy of their foster family’s welcome booklet, which then serves as a record of their placement (including respite placements). It also acknowledges that each move is significant.

Each team produces an introduction to their area and staff members for each child or young person placed. This also serves as a future record of their supporting FCA staff and acknowledges the significance of each relationship and importance of each individual with whom the child or young person may have had a connection.

Each child or young person receives an interactive CD-Rom, which complements the written guides and provides information about FCA’s history, services, and the types of meetings the child will attend. The CD-Rom enables a young person to understand the roles and responsibilities of differing professionals and agencies involved in the placement process.

Each child or young person placed receives a memory box to encourage themselves and their carers to store memorabilia and items of sentiment.

In addition to the memory box, we provide a camera and photo album, encouraging the child or young person to keep a photographic record of their time with FCA. FCA also encourages carers and staff to regularly take photographs/videos of the child or young person as part of its commitment to Life Story Work. 

This is undertaken within safe care guidelines as stated within FCA policy and guidance on photographing and filming.

These written guides contain information about being in care, resources available, useful contacts and a complaints leaflet. The Toby Bear book is aimed at children at an earlier developmental stage (under 9’s).

FCA has developed a Memory Book consisting of worksheets that can be removed or added to as needed – providing a qualitative record of the child or young person’s placement(s).

The looked after child or young person’s Case Records may focus more on facts, issues and concerns, while the Memory Book can contain anecdotes, photographs, drawings, as well as the thoughts and feelings of the child or young person. This also applies for those who cared for or worked with them.

This can serve as a future source of reference, in line with the overall aim of FCA Life Story Work, in order to serve as a catalyst to promote thought/reflection and a trigger for memories.

Children who are looked after may experience many moves and changes of GP; information about their health may get lost or be hard to track.

Therefore, FCA provides a Health Passport for every looked after child or young person with the aim of keeping health information together in one place. Foster carers are required to keep the Health Passport up-to-date.