What is Foster care?
{{Otheruses4|the modern child welfare system of putting children who are in [[state]] [[custody]] in the homes of temporary caregivers|the social practice of children being brought up by families not their own|Fosterage}} '''Foster care''' is a term used to describe when a [[child]] is living and looked after by a family which is not their own. The child may be put into foster care because their own [[parent]]s are not able to look after them. When it comes to making sure that your foster child feels welcomed into their new home, you would need to do more than just open the front door for them. Welcoming a foster child<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=How To Become A Foster Parent In The U.S|url=https://www.kobi-id.org/en/a-step-by-step-guide-on-becoming-a-foster-parent-in-north-carolina/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628032717/https://www.kobi-id.org/en/a-step-by-step-guide-on-becoming-a-foster-parent-in-north-carolina/|archive-date=2023-06-28|access-date=2020-12-22|website=FREE Press Release Distribution|language=en-GB|url-status=dead}}</ref> into your home is like a balancing act. May people in the foster care system develop; * Mental health issues * A sense of being unwanted * More likely childhood trauma * Social phobia * Borderline personality disorder There may be several reasons why this may happen. The parents may be very ill or unable to control their own lives, perhaps because of [[alcoholism]] or [[drug addiction]]. They may be in [[prison]] or the children may be threatened with [[violence]] in their own home. Children are put into foster care so that they are safe and can live a more normal life in someone else's home. When a child is fostered there has to be a [[legal]] agreement. The person who looks after them instead of their own parents is called a “foster parent”. The child is made a “ward” of court, which means that power is given through the court of law to the foster parent to look after them. The foster parent(s) is ''“in loco parentis”'', meaning: