The ICCI women’s office had the pleasure of facilitating a presentation on the fostering process by Marisa Irwin (senior social work practitioner) and Noeleen Losack (Team leader) of TUSLA, the child and family agency. Over 45 attendees were present, some even travelling from outside of Dublin to attend. There has been an increased interest from people in the fostering process in recent months, many people inquiring about fostering of Syrian refugee children. At present, these children have not arrived. If/when they do, the only families who will be eligible to take care of them, will be those who have gone through the fostering assessment process and passed it.
What needs to be remembered is that our community also has children who have been taken into care. These children are also in great need of Muslim foster homes. There are at present only two registered foster carers that we are aware of in our Muslim community, one of whom is outside of Dublin.
If you are interested in fostering, remember that a child is a child, and every child is deserving of a loving home.
Fostering will never be plain sailing. It brings many challenges with it, especially when the children are coming from broken homes, abuse, and neglect and in the case of refugee children war-torn areas.
If you have an extra room and your youngest child is over three years old, and you are interested in opening your heart and home to a child in need then get in touch with your local TUSLA office and inquire about starting the assessment for fostering. It will also include training for you as a foster parent.
For anyone who missed out on the presentation and would like more information.
Contact Amilah: [email protected]
