From Day One: The Foster Care Diary & First 24 Hours Guide

Those first hours are a blur. A child arrives - sometimes with notice, usually without - and you’re expected to remember everything, record everything, and hold it together while also just… being there for them.

This guide was written by a foster carer, for foster carers. It won’t tell you anything you don’t already know in your gut. But it will give you the words, the framework, and the confidence to record it properly; from the moment they walk through your door.

Part One — The First 24 Hours

What to record, when to record it, and how to write it in a way that’s defensible, compassionate, and child-centred. Because the notes you make in those first hours matter more than you think.

Part Two — The Daily Diary Guide

A practical, trauma-informed framework for ongoing diary keeping, broken down by age and placement type. Written with one eye on the professionals who’ll read it: and one eye on the child who might read it one day too.

Written for every placement type, including the ones that are too often overlooked:

Standard · Parent & Child · Early Permanence · Kinship & Connected Care

We’re with you from day one.

Aligned with Foster Wales & England fostering regulations · Version 1 · June 2026 · Annual review cycle

For use by one fostering household · Organisational licensing available