It’s a Saturday morning when Casey and Mike are asked to take in eight year old Connor – an emergency placement, just for a couple of days, following a violent incident at his now former care home. And Casey’s instinct, as ever, is to say yes. With long term foster son Tyler off to football, and no particular plans for the weekend, even the fact that Connor arrives in what looks like a prison van doesn’t phase her – after all, challenging children are what she and Mike have trained for. And how much trouble can he really be? He’s eight.
A lot, as it turns out. Connor is as streetwise as they come, and, hurt and angry, seems determined to cause trouble from the off. But despite the attitude, there’s something strangely endearing about their little visitor that makes Casey want to tease out the frightened child behind the swagger. So much so that, with Connor and Tyler getting on so well, she wonders – should they say they’ll keep him longer? It seems like the easiest decision in the world …
Casey Watson has been a specialist foster carer for over 20 years. During this time she has welcomed 42 difficult to place children into her home, whilst her own two children have flown the nest and had families of their own. Casey's daughter, Riley, decided she wanted to follow her mum's footsteps and also ventured into fostering, albeit just now and again, and only providing respite care for others. Casey's son, Kieron, has Asperger's Syndrome, but is high functioning. He also underwent training and now works in schools with children who have special educational needs.
Casey has ...
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