Fostering a Sikh Child

Fostering a Sikh Child

To make sure that we have the best possible outcomes for our Sikh children and young people, we strive to recruit foster families that can provide a safe, nurturing and a culturally responsive home that respects the child’s religious identity. In an ideal world, we will place a child within a home that is already practicing Sikhism, however there are times, due to the shortage of approved Sikh foster families, this is not always possible. Below we will discuss some important things to consider in order to best support a Sikh child who is in your care.

Religious Identity:

We would look for our Foster Carers to provide their Sikh Foster child with opportunities to access to worship services and places where they can practice their faith. For example, Gurdwaras not only provide a space for traditional worship and prayer, they can also be an invaluable source of support and guidance.

To fully support your foster child, we would be look for you to show that you are (or how to plan to become), knowledgeable about Sikh religious holidays, such as Diwali or Vaisakhi in order to provide the child with an opportunity to celebrate their faith and heritage. It should also be added that as these major holidays are usually celebrated in large gatherings of family and friends, it is important for your foster child to be able to connect with other members of their faith.

Religious Education:

As their Foster Carers, we would look to you to provide support in helping your foster child to learn about their faith. Examples could include, watching religious festivals on TV, attending youth groups or classes held at Gurdwaras and encouraging them to learn about the Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Book for Sikhs).

More about Fostering in other Faiths

Customs and Traditions:

Allowing your Sikh Foster child to be involved with familiar customs and tradition’s is an important part of supporting their identity. This could include displaying any holy symbols the child may have in their bedroom, cooking the cuisine of their faith, and allowing the child to wear religious symbols such as kara, or bangles, or traditional turban. Ensuring that your foster child has a space in your home to practice their faith without judgement or intervention is important, you would need to provide time and space that allows them to partake in religious rituals such as prayer, and to discuss the importance and meaning of these rituals in a peaceful and respectful manner.

As a Foster carer, you have a unique opportunity and responsibility to support the faith of any children in your care. By being culturally sensitive and creating a safe and nurturing environment, you can help make the transition of a Sikh foster child into their new home a positive and successful experience.

It is important however to realise that although we will always do our best to match a child to the most suitable home possible, we don’t approve a carer on the basis that they will foster only from a specific religion or faith. When we recruit Foster Carers its because they want to help and support vulnerable young people irrelevant what race or religion they may be, and so if you don’t have a child in placement and we believe that you would be able to support a child’s identity, we may ask you to consider the referral of a child who’s religion falls outside of your own beliefs, or a child who comes from a home that does not practice any religion.