Why Do Foster Children Need Their Own Room?

If you’re thinking about fostering, one of the first questions you might have is, ‘Do I need a spare room?’ Here at Olive Branch Fostering this is a question we’re often asked by prospective foster carers, so today we’re taking a closer look at what the requirements are around fostering and spare bedrooms and why it’s so important for foster children to have their own room.

Do You Need a Spare Bedroom to Foster?

The short answer to this question is, yes!

Whilst there isn’t a specific law that requires a foster child to have their own room, it is considered best practice as outlined in the National Minimum Standards For Fostering Services.

At Olive Branch, we require all our foster carers to have a spare bedroom, and you’ll find this is the case with the vast majority of UK fostering agencies and local authorities.

What Do We Mean By a Spare Bedroom?

Before we go any further, it’s important to outline what exactly we mean by a spare bedroom.

No two families or households are exactly the same, and this is also true of homes! When you put yourself forward as a potential foster carer, a social worker will visit your home as part of your fostering assessment, and will be able to advise you on the suitability of the specific room you have set aside for a foster child.

However, as a general guide, by spare bedroom we mean a room that:

• Has its own door and window.

• Is heated (by a radiator or wall heater).

• Has enough space for a cot or single bed, and storage, such as a wardrobe or chest of drawers.

• Depending on the age of the child you’re planning to foster, you may also need space for a desk and chair for homework or floor space for playing with toys.

• Is on the same level as your bedroom.

• Isn’t used to access any other room in the house (for example, you don’t need to walk through it to get to a bathroom or another bedroom).

• Will be used exclusively by the foster child (for example, it isn’t regularly used by grandchildren or as part of joint custody arrangements for visiting birth children).

• Hasn’t recently been ‘given up’ by a birth or adopted child to make space for the incoming foster child (including a child that’s gone away to university and will be returning in the holidays or at the end of their course).

Why Can’t Foster Children Share With Birth Children?

Many people wonder if it’s possible for a foster child to share a bedroom with their own birth child/ren. While some birth children may seem initially enthusiastic about this idea, ultimately it isn’t fair on either your birth child/ren or a foster child to be expected to share their personal space this way.

Remember, that when a foster child arrives in your home, you are ultimately a stranger to them and vice versa! Coming into foster care or moving to a new placement is unsettling enough for a child without also expecting them to share a bedroom with someone they don’t know so it’s crucial that they have a space that’s entirely their own.

It’s also important for any birth or adopted children or resident foster children to feel they have a sense of belonging and feeling very much part of the family. It is important for a child to also be able to connect and explore their own identity and to be able to choose how they want their room to look and feel.

This is also why we don’t recommend moving birth children into a room together to free up a room for a foster child. Again, they may not mind at first, but could later feel resentful that they have to share while a foster child has their own space.

While many birth children do share bedrooms and are happy doing so, this should be a longstanding arrangement that everyone is happy with, before considering using your spare bedroom to foster.

Can Foster Siblings Share a Room?

While a foster child can’t share a bedroom with a birth child, children should stay with their brothers and sisters where safe to do so, staying there for as long as needed.

This is very much an individual decision, led by the children’s social worker, and will take into account factors such as the age and sex of the children, what their previous sleeping arrangements where, and whether or not it will be beneficial for them to continue sharing in a foster placement or whether they’d be better with their own space.

This may mean that as a foster carer with one spare bedroom, you could potentially foster siblings who would share the space, however, again this would depend on the size of the bedroom available and how many children you are approved to foster when you go to panel .

Ideally, there should be a bedroom available for each child even if they don’t necessarily use it to begin with. This ensures that your living and sleeping arrangements are future-proof if anything changes further down the line.

The Benefits of Your Foster Child Having Their Own Room

Ensuring that each foster child has their own room isn’t just about meeting fostering standards, there’s also a whole host of benefits to a child or young person having their own space in your home.

Most foster children come into care having had a difficult start in life. They may have experienced neglect and/or abuse. For many, they won’t have had that safe, warm comfortable space that many of us associate with home. That’s why it’s so vital that they have a space just for themselves when they come into foster care.

Having their own room gives a child or young person somewhere they can relax and unwind. It allows them privacy and is a place for them to decompress from everything that’s happened and process the events that have led to them being removed from their birth families.

No only does having their own room help a foster child adjust to their new living arrangements, it also helps you and your family acclimatise too. When each person has their own room, it means everyone has somewhere to go if they need a break from one another or just some time alone.

Another reason why it’s important for foster children to have their own room is that it can be useful in building daily routines around bedtime and waking up, which is something many foster children may not have had before. It also helps to establish healthy boundaries and gives everyone privacy, and somewhere to keep their own belongings, which, again, may be a new concept for many children coming into care.

Thinking About Fostering?

If you’ve been wondering why foster children need their own room, we hope this blog has helped to clear things up.

If you’re considering fostering and would like to know more, our fostering FAQ answers many of the questions we’re most often asked.

If you have any other questions, or would like to chat to someone about your personal circumstances or next steps, please don’t hesitate to call us on 01706 558910 and one of the friendly Olive Branch Fostering team will be on hand to help. Alternatively, you can or fill out our online contact form and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.