Kwame and his partner Evelyn were the parents of one son living in a two bedroomed flat when they heard the news that Kwame’s friend Toby was sentenced to short prison sentence and after taking the news badly Toby’s partner Pauline became depressed and felt unable to care for their little girl on her own for the time being. Kwame was adamant that he had to do something to help as there was no other family able to. Kwame said “ I would rather keep her in my care, as I would not want her end up in local authority care”. Toby and Kwame made an agreement that Kwame and his family would care for Janice until either Toby was out of prison and able to rebuild his family or his partner Pauline felt well enough to cope. Kwame and Evelyn were assessed as suitable to look after Janice in their home as private foster carers.
Kwame and his partner experienced several challenges caring for Janice as they had to rearrange their home and lives to accommodate her for several months but they were committed to keeping her and looking after her as a member of their family. Janice was visited at their home regularly by a Social Worker. Janice said her carers helped her keep in touch with her parents and she wanted to be able to get back to her mum and dad as soon as possible. but she always said she was happy with Kwame and Evelyn as they made nice meals for them all and they all did fun things together. She said she was already friends with their son from before so they could talk and play together. She said she hoped that she and Kwame’s family would always remain friends.
When Toby came out of prison, Janice was able to return to living with him and with the support of community services, Pauline had come out of her depression and the family was fully reunited.