I was approved for fostering but it was conditional tha tI not go to my parent's house where I met my nieces adn nephews . This was because the social worker said, 'You've confided you always return to your home exhausted and upset by your siblings behaviour and if we place a vulnerable child with you, they must not be in that environment'.

So I was asked to choose between never ceasing contact or suspending the fostering process. I ended up doing the latter... but ten years on, the children have mostly taken up the group think of the adults. Fear rules, sadly.