New foster carers with Royal Greenwich are assigned a mentor when they join us, to help them navigate their way through some of the paperwork and introduce them to the fostering support groups available, as well as giving tips on embracing their first foster placement.

Peer mentoring means newly approved carers can form a structured one-to-one relationship with other more experienced foster carers, outside of any line management relationship.

Mentors offer support from a position of full understanding, which includes:

• providing a problem-solving resource for foster carers in difficulty
• enhancing the quality of care given to children through increasing the skills, confidence and motivation of the carers involved, leading to improved placement stability.

The peer mentoring scheme aims to support the recruitment and retention of foster carers by offering the chance for personal development to mentors and contributing to the training support and development standards (TSDS) for mentees.

Some benefits of having a mentor include:

• help in adapting to a new role and the fostering service
• assistance with familiarisation of the organisation
• gaining a greater understanding of the role and tasks of a foster carer
• feeling less isolated
• the opportunity to further develop a support network
• feedback on practice, in addition to that received from the supervising social worker
• trusted advice and guidance
• developing new ideas, skills and knowledge about fostering
• further development of good communication links with our fostering service and wider children’s services department
• meeting training or development targets identified in a new carers’ Personal Development Plan
• reflection on practice with the guidance of a mentor.