Our foster parents are never alone in their fostering journey.
We are committed to ensure that both you and your foster child receive the best support possible. Here are some forms of support you can receive as foster parents:
To assist foster parents to defray the costs of supporting a foster child, MSF provides the following:
A Foster Care Worker will be attached to every foster parent to provide guidance and support. The officer will maintain contact with you and your foster child through regular phone calls and home visits. Where needed, other professionals such as psychologists, counsellors, medical and educational professionals, may also be brought in to support the child.
New foster parents are required to complete foundation and intermediate training courses, designed to equip you with basic knowledge and skills, such as understanding the role of a foster parent and the trauma that foster children may have gone through.
Curriculum for the Foundation Training Course
Besides the foundation and intermediate training courses, there are also specialised courses such as Positive Parenting Programme and elective courses
that you can sign up for. Elective courses teach additional skills in areas such as parenting teenagers, working with birth parents and achieving cyber-wellness.
Trainings are usually held on Saturday mornings.
In case of emergency, you can obtain immediate support via an emergency hotline available 24/7.
These platforms allow foster parents to share tips and offer encouragement to one another. There are two types of support groups:
Foster parents unable to care for their foster child for brief periods of time (e.g. when on overseas trips) may request for respite care from another foster parent during that period.
Foster parents enjoy childcare leave benefits, just as birth parents do under the Child Development Co-Savings Act and Employment Act. Foster parents who work can utilise the leave to care of your foster child, for example to take them to a doctor when they are ill.
Please refer to the following websites for more details on childcare leave schemes: