Fostering provides these children with a secure family environment, with the aim of returning them to their birth families eventually, once the latter are assessed as safe to resume care for them.
Foster care applicants undergo suitability assessments, which include interview sessions, home visits, medical screening and reference checks. After approval, foster parents need to attend foundational and intermediate training courses to equip themselves with skills for supporting their foster child.
As to Ong and Chia’s approach to fostering? That would be to take things one step at a time.
“There’s a first for everything, so we didn’t know what to expect,” said Chia, who is a civil servant. “For the first night together, we’ve heard stories of kids who can’t sleep or (who) start crying and vomiting.”
To their relief, Isaac not only showed up cheerfully at their door, but also slept through the first night.