Challenging transitions  

Adam* came to us when he was 8 years old. He’d been in foster care previously and found the transition to residential care quite challenging. 

To help reassure him, we completed a very thorough and planned transition, which included taking him out for lunches and meeting him for park trips. This helped Adam get to know us and become more at ease in our company.  

Once he’d moved in, Adam spent the summer holidays building relationships with the other children who lived at the home. 

A turbulent start 

Adam really missed his foster carers at first. He found it difficult not seeing them every day, and this made it tricky for him to form relationships with us and accept his new surroundings. 

To help turn things around, we focused on building family rituals to give Adam a sense of belonging. We had fun celebrating things like Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas, and birthdays and made memories that Adam had never experienced before. 

After a few months, Adam’s behaviour started to change. He was more settled and happier within himself. He started enjoying school more and formed positive relationships with his teachers. 

From here, Adam’s progress accelerated. He went on holidays, experienced trips to Legoland, paintballing and museums, and joined a football team and mixed martial arts class. 

He met up with his previous foster carers and continued to write to them. This was a really positive step for Adam, and he relished seeing them again. 

On top of everything, he began to feel like part of the home and formed strong bonds with the other children. He loved getting everyone together for a movie night and really enjoyed sitting down at dinner time and catching up with everyone. 

New school, new experiences  

Adam has learned to regulate his emotions and has engaged in new experiences like play therapy.  

He’s become more adept at managing change, which helped when he got a new social worker, as he built a positive relationship with them from the off. 

He started a new school recently and has received numerous Star of the Week and Star of the School awards. He’s made many friends and built up his confidence and resilience when socialising. 

Adam is beginning to work through his life journey and understand who he is and where he’s come from. And although this will be a long process, we’ll support him every step of the way. 

“Adam is a lovely young boy with an excellent sense of humour and has lots of potential now that he has the appropriate level of care and nurturing.” 

Quote from Adam’s Independent Reviewing Officer 

*We have changed the name to protect the young person’s identity. 

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