FAMILIES who are considering fostering should do one thing immediately: “ask the question, send the email, make the phone call”, according to a Donegal mum.
The Donegal News last week revealed that care shortages are critical amid a nationwide lack of foster families.
Non-governmental organisation The Children’s Right Alliance described the crisis as “unacceptable” and “unprecedented” while the State’s children’s body Tusla and others like independent agency Five Rivers Fostering are actively seeking more carers.
Bighearted mum-of-two Colleen Ferns, from Redcastle in Inishowen, is one who is helping to ease the emergency during National Fostering Awareness Month, which runs throughout June.
Bighearted Donegal foster mum Colleen Ferns with her husband Shane and their boys, left to right, Shane Patrick and Feidhlem. Shane is holding their foster daughter, whose identity is private.
Colleen (31) told the Donegal News: “What advice would I give to someone considering becoming a foster carer? Ask the question, send the email, make the phone call.
“I know that fostering isn’t for everyone, but it could surprise you how for you it could be.
“The first point of contact is just a chat, get answers to questions you have, get a great insight on fostering and the process of becoming a foster carer.
“Honestly, we have never looked back, the small moments of joy, happiness and laughter from our foster child are unforgettable memories.
“I have two biological children, both boys, aged eight and ten. My husband Shane is also 31. We have been fostering for a year and we have had our [foster] daughter that whole time. She was our first placement.
“I have been part of a foster family my whole adult life. My parents started fostering when I was 19 and since then I always knew that fostering would be part of my own life at one point or another.
“It just felt like it was the most natural step in my parenting journey. We love that we have two generations of the same family fostering together.
“Our main concern as a family was to make sure that the child or children we welcomed into our home engaged well with the children we already have.
“We didn’t go into fostering with rose-tinted glasses. We understood the hard side as well as the all the wonderful things it brings.
“We took the first step the summer of 2024 when my boys were six and eight. I feel like being both a foster carer and a parent, challenges coming up is an ever-present part of the experience.
“Adding to our family has been lovely. Our daughter is with us on a long-term basis. I really have loved watching my youngest son become a big brother, which is something I never thought I would see.
“Watching my husband becoming a girl dad has been brilliant as she had him wrapped around his finger from the very start. It has really added more happiness to our little family.
“Since becoming a foster parent, I am much more grateful for the little happy moments in life that I know some people will never experience.
“I try and find joy in all the areas of life that I can. I recognise how lucky I am to have the life that I do and share it with my family.”
Two generations of foster carers: Colleen Ferns pictured with her husband Shane, who are foster carers, and her parents Frank and Jacqueline, who are also foster carers. They all get together ever Christmas with Colleen’s brothers Sean, Deaglan, Aodhan, and Proinnsias, plus her three foster brothers, her sister-in-law Sinead, niece Críoa, and Colleen’s granda Frank. The foster children’s identities are private.
Independent foster caer agency Five Rivers Fostering.
Colleen added: “The company we chose when starting our fostering journey was Five Rivers Fostering, the same company as my parents.
“I have found them so supportive in any issue that has come up. We have a wonderful link-worker, who checks in with us on a weekly basis.
“My family and Shane’s family have been wonderful support. My parents have helped with all their advice and experience with having fostered for so long.
“Shane’s family have opened their hearts and their home to our foster daughter and we could be more grateful for their support.”
Another Donegal mum, Eileen Harkin, last week encouraged local families to foster and said: “If you can do something in life to help others, you should.”
Eileen (54), from Clonmany, also in Inishowen, was inspired to foster by her own mum, Kathleen, a widowed mother-of-12 children.
Donegal foster carers EIleen Harkin and her husband Martin.
Some 5,822 children are in care in Ireland, with 5,064 – some 87 per cent of them – living with foster families.
The number of new foster carers has increased year-on-year over the past three years, totalling 606 since 2023, but more are needed in Donegal, according to Tusla.
A recent children in care investigation by RTE’s Prime Time team reported “heartbreaking” and “scary” conditions for vulnerable children who can get lost in the family law court system.
The Children’s Right Alliance, which was founded in 1995, said the revelations were “deeply distressing” and claimed that children’s care-system traumas are “marred by isolation, fear for their safety and feeling abandoned”.
The weekly Foster Care Allowance, which is tax-free and is not means-tested, is €400 per child under 12 years old and €425 per child for those aged 12 and over.
Tusla Fostering is seeking foster carers from across Ireland, with spokesperson Jacqui Smyth stating: “Right now, in every part of Ireland, there is a need for foster carers.”
Tusla Fostering can be contacted on Freefone 1800 226 771, email [email protected] or visit the fostering.ie website.
Five Rivers Fostering was established in 2002 as a nationwide fostering agency, the first independent fostering agency to operate in the South.
To learn more about fostering from Five Rivers Fostering, contact its [email protected] email or see its fiveriversfostering.ie/ website.