Simply Fostering

Can A Foster Child Share A Bedroom? Requirements

BEDROOM Requirements

Can foster children share bedrooms?

 Not usually as it’s a legal requirement for any child over the age of 3 to have their own room. This is to ensure the child you foster has the privacy and space they require. There is one exception, same-sex foster siblings.

When Can siblings share

It depends on the Local Authority who have the power to decide, but it comes down to what will be the least disruptive for the children. If two young siblings have always shared a room, it may well be better for them to continue doing so. However, if there has been abuse within the family, sometimes siblings may have to be separated to keep them safe.

Generally Local Authorities will only allow sharing up to a certain age, usually around 9 to 11. Babies can usually share a carer’s bedroom aged around 12-18 months.

Read about keeping siblings groups together.

Accommodation for foster children

The UK Minimum Standards for Fostering state that a foster home must be able to accommodate all who live there.  Meaning that family spaces like lounges need to be big enough for the whole family to live comfortably together. 

Each child over the age of three, which includes all the foster carer’s birth children who live in the home, should have their own bedroom. Sometimes that’s not possible so each child sharing a bedroom must have the room to have their own personal space.

Why Do Fostered Children Need Their Own Bedroom?

Having in mind Legislation and the placing Local Authority’s expectations, foster children need to have a ‘place of the own’, the same as most children. Having their own room gives them somewhere to be alone, where they can escape to where they feel safe and secure if situations become difficult to deal with.

Some of The Benefits :

  • A child’s own personal space
  • The privacy a child needs
  • Adds to a child’s sense of safety
  • Helps a child’s self worth and belonging
  • Helps with routines and responsibilities
  • Helps the child to deal with the move
  • Helps a child settle into the household
  • Helps keep the child and/or other children safe

All fostered children experienced feelings of loss and the associated unwanted changes having been removed from their family and friends and often the area they lived in.

Interviews with older children and care leavers found that the majority felt being removed from home and put in ‘care’ was as traumatic as the reasons they were accommodated.

Birth Children

Fostering Agencies will usually not agree for birth children to be moved into the same bedroom in order to make space for fostering. Because they may need their own space as they get older, which could cause problems for the foster child

Some people wait until they meet the bedroom requirements when their own children move out or a spare bedroom becomes available, then apply to become foster carers.

UK Wide Fostering Network

Try these: South WestDevonExeter

If you live in the UK… We’ve got you covered.
We cover the length and breadth of the UK with our unique Agency Network. Finding an Agency near you and supporting your move into foster caring.

 

free fostering handbook

Free Fostering Essentials Handbook

By contacting us you are entitled to the Simply Fostering Essentials Handbook, a wall to wall guide to fostering.

An A-Z comprehensive guide to a range of useful fostering terms. Essential reading for any newbie foster carer. Includes subjects as varied as:

  • Parental Responsibility
  • Managing Behaviour
  • Human Rights
  • Reviews
  • Eat Disorders

Form Only Takes A Minute To Complete.

The Best Start in Fostering

Scroll to Top
Free ‘Fostering Essentials #1’ E-book

Please provide your email so we can send you a download link and password.