Taking in a foster child: Information, offers and provider overview

The number of foster children in Switzerland today is currently around 15,000 - and rising... Practically all of these foster children come from difficult backgrounds, have had a difficult past and were at times in a vulnerable situation. Many of them have experienced impairments of various kinds, some have suffered severe losses and experienced serious deficits. Their injuries from past relationships are often felt for a long time. As a result, they were unable to cope with important developmental tasks in the past - something they can feel well into adolescence or adulthood. Their history is marked by excessive demands and suffering. This is why they need a home with security, safety, consistency, trust, reliability and love.

Anyone who wants to take in foster children faces great challenges, but also the great opportunity to offer a child or young person a home that they so desperately need. This task requires a great deal of time, patience, energy, responsibility and social skills. Foster parents or couples who would like to take in foster children in the future have the opportunity to be trained on important topics in a course. Courses train (prospective) foster parents in the areas of social pedagogy, developmental psychology and attachment theory. Topics such as inner attitude, the needs of children and adolescents, participation, conducting conversations, crises and crisis interventions, difficult parenting situations, de-escalation, dealing with resistance, trauma, psychiatric disorders, personality development and mental hygiene are also part of such courses.

Would you like to take in foster children or have you already taken in one or more children and would like to gain confidence in dealing with them? Then find out about the latest courses on offer in your region and order free, non-binding information brochures directly from Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch!