To care with complete and unconditional regard. 🥰

We sometimes ask what seems to be the impossible. We ask complete strangers, foster carers, to care for this new little person in their world, who comes with their own personalities, interests, strengths, behaviours, backgrounds and traumas, and to show complete and unconditional regard for that child. No matter what. This seems almost impossible and a little too good to be true - or is it?

In my experience, there is this small but incredible subset of people in the community who can genuinely look beyond quirks, behaviours, barriers to connection and still connect with the kids in their care. They look authentically at this child and recognise the child is this incredible person, deserving of love, deserving of care, and they just truly feel complete and unconditional regard for them. And the outcomes are incredible.

I could go on and on about this, and the life-changing ability you have as a carer or a potential carer, to be that one person who is caring enough, strong enough, passionate enough, to really show unconditional regard to a child in care. But Josh Schipp, a motivational speaker and ex-child in care, says it better than I could. Watch this 5 minute video, just a small part of his story.

Like Josh’s foster carer, we’re not asking you to be perfect. You will absolutely lose your cool some days and really have those days when you question whether this is the right path for you. But if you are a resilient, reflective, mindful person who can bounce back from difficulties, you have ‘stick-ability’, you can face challenges with confidence and support from those around you, then you too could be giving a foster child the same unconditional regard Josh’s carers Rodney and Christine showed Josh.

If you haven’t already, completed the pre-screen quiz now and take that next step today.