The Fostering Network is bringing the pioneering Mockingbird Family Model approach to foster care, and the support of children and foster carers, to the UK following a £1.597m funding award from the Department for Education’s Innovation Programme. Mockingbird uses the concept of a dedicated ‘hub home’ of specially recruited and trained carers offering respite care, peer support, regular joint planning and social activities to a ‘constellation’ of six to 10 families of foster and kinship carers living in close proximity. Like an extended family, the hub empowers families to support each other, overcome problems before they escalate and offer children a more positive experience of care. The hub also builds links with other families important to the children’s care plans and to a wider community of stakeholders who can provide them with enhanced opportunities to learn, develop and succeed. The Fostering Network will be working with its originators to transpose the model to the UK, becoming a licensed provider of a UK model. In the first year work will focus on the delivery of kinship and foster care for adolescents, raising standards of care and realising significant cost savings. The Fostering Network will work with eight local authorities and independent fostering providers in England to achieve this. Melissa Green, director of operations at The Fostering Network, said: “The Fostering Network is committed to supporting foster carers and giving children in foster care the very best chance of a positive future. The funding we have received from the Department for Education’s Innovation Programme will allow us to take the learning from the Mockingbird Family Model and translate it to reflect fostering in the UK. This presents a truly pioneering opportunity to change young people's lives for the better. “Mockingbird is a simple, innovative and research informed approach to restructuring children’s services with proven positive outcomes for children, carers and services. We believe it will inspire and engage fostering services across the UK with a new, intuitive approach to foster care. “There is a tremendous appetite for innovation in fostering services across the country and we have brought together a strong and committed group of eight fostering services all of who have pledged to sustained delivery of the new model.” The Fostering Network is working with the following fostering services to deliver Mockingbird: Leeds City Council, Stockport Council, Calderdale Council, Acorn Care and Education (Heath Farm), Royal Borough of Greenwich, Doncaster Children’s Trust, Oxfordshire County Council, London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Source: https://www.fostering.net/news/2015/innovation-fund-award-bring-mockingbird-uk#.VP7eEfmsU1Z Social workers have been given updated guidance on how they should consider the use of electronic-cigarettes by prospective foster carers and adoptive parents. The British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) has this week updated its guidance for social workers. It followed a story in the Mail On Sunday, which claimed prospective adopters had been rejected by Staffordshire council because the man used an electronic-cigarette. BAAF guidance had previously stated that e-cigarettes should be regarded in the same way as tobacco cigarettes, but the organisation has since reversed its position on the matter. “At the next meeting of our Health Group Advisory Committee (HGAC), we will be recommending that agencies now consider e-cigarettes as different to tobacco cigarettes,” read the news release on its website. “Agencies should therefore recognise the low risk to children and not see the use of e-cigarettes as a reason to preclude foster carers or adopters purely on this basis. Each circumstance should be risk assessed on an individual basis.” The decision was made after the organisation, “took the opportunity to review the evidence presented in the Public Health England Report, which was quoted in the Mail on Sunday article”, a BAAF spokesperson said. The spokesperson added: “On the basis of the information contained in this report BAAF has updated our recommendations. We are continuing to monitor research and discuss the issue of e-cigarettes.” Staffordshire council has a policy that children under five should not be placed in a home where their foster carer or adoptive parent has been a smoker in the past 12 months. The man referred to in the Mail on Sunday story had only been a non-smoker for two months, a council spokesperson said, so the e-cigarette was not a factor in its decision to reject his application to adopt. The council does consider adopters and foster carers who use e-cigarettes, but only if they ceased smoking tobacco cigarettes at least 12 months ago. Source: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/02/24/social-workers-given-updated-guidance-e-cigarette-use-foster-carers-adopters/ New Family Social’s LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week 2015, which runs from March 2nd to 8th, is already receiving much praise and support. Caroline Selkirk, Chief Executive British Association for Adoption & Fostering, said, “At the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) we are delighted to support LGBT Fostering and Adoption Week. This campaign provides a unique opportunity to raise the profile of LGBT adoption and fostering, tackle prejudice head on, and enable prospective parents and foster carers to meet and learn more about the process.” This year New Family Social has joined forces with children’s charity Barnardo’s to highlight the need for more carers to come forward and adopt or foster children, in particular, sibling groups who often wait the longest to find new forever families. Javed Khan, Chief Executive at Barnardo’s, noted, “As an adoption agency Barnardo’s specialises in finding adopters for older children, children in sibling groups and children with additional or uncertain needs. We are very proud of the contribution our adopters and carers from the LGBT community make towards the work of Barnardo’s in turning around the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in the UK.” Statistics from the British Association of Adoption and Fostering show that 7% of children were adopted by same-sex couples during the year ending March 31st 2014. This was up by 1% from the previous year. Chief Executive of After Adoption, Lynn Charlton, MBE, stated, “We need people to come forward to adopt who can provide loving, stable homes and who will commit to children for life. Sexuality isn’t a factor in that. People who identify as LGBT play a key role in creating these families and this year 1 in 5 of our approved adopters identified as gay or lesbian. LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week, organised by New Family Social, is a great opportunity to assure anyone considering adoption that their enquiry will be positively welcomed.” At over 60 events around the UK, LGBT people considering becoming parents will learn about the process, hear real stories from parents and carers and have their questions answered. They’ll have the opportunity to mingle with other prospective parents and foster carers and meet agencies face to face, and consider their options. James Foyle, foster carer recruitment expert at The Fostering Network, highlighted that, “LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the diversity of people who can and do foster. It is a time for fostering services to consider how they engage with the LGBT community, address any misconceptions that may exist and help those thinking of fostering to identify whether they have the right skills and qualities to foster.” In-depth research into the experiences of adoptive families headed by same-sex couples suggests that children adopted by gay or lesbian couples are just as likely to thrive as those adopted by heterosexual couples. It also reveals that new families cope just as well as traditional families with the big challenges that come with taking on children who have had a poor start in life. As Jeanne Kaniuk OBE, Coram’s Managing Director of Adoption and Permanent Families’ Service, said, “The boys and girls waiting for new mums or dads have had a difficult start in life and will need extra support. Extra cuddles, extra reassurance – the patience and empathy of a parent who will stand by their side. Many of these children are past their toddler years, or need to be adopted with a brother or sister. Being a parent is a full-time job, but as one of our parents, Paul, who adopted with his partner Graham, says, life without them soon becomes unimaginable: ‘We love them more than lie-ins, more than our own space, more than nights out with my mates, more than peaceful Sunday mornings…which is lucky… Dad x.” New Family Social are very excited about this year’s events. Please check www.lgbtadoptfosterweek.org.uk for events in your local area. The Manchester Flagship event is on Monday 2nd March, and the London Flagship event is on Friday 6th March. Booking essential. Source: https://www.newfamilysocial.org.uk/lgbt-adoption-fostering-week-2015-gathering-support/ Our TACT North West fostering team will be at this LGBT adoption and fostering week flagship event in Manchester on 2 March The first part of the evening will give an overview of adoption and fostering and you’ll also hear from LGBT foster carers and adopters. The TACT team will then be on hand to answer any questions that you may have. We work with a number of LGBT foster carers and would love welcome you to our team. Event details Date/Time: Monday 2 March 18:30 Address: LGF, 5 Richmond Street, Central Manchester, M1 3HF Registration: You must book your place before the event. Registration will close on Sunday 1 March. Find out more Further information If you’d like to know more about fostering with TACT you can:
Source: http://tactcare.org.uk/event/lgbt-adoption-and-fostering-week-manchester-flagship-event/ The TACT fostering and adoption teams will be at this LGBT adoption and fostering week flagship event in London on Friday 6 March. The first part of the evening will give an overview of adoption and fostering and you’ll also hear from LGBT foster carers and adopters. The TACT team will then be on hand to answer any questions that you may have. We work with a number of LGBT foster carers and adopters and would love to talk to you about the benefits of adopting and fostering with TACT. Event details Date/Time: Friday 6 March 18:30 Address: River Court, 120 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2BE Registration: You must book your place before the event. Registration will close on Tuesday 3 March. Find out more Further information If you’d like to know more about adopting and fostering with TACT you can:
Source: http://tactcare.org.uk/event/lgbt-adoption-and-fostering-week-london-flagship-event/ The Fostering Network has called for foster carers across the UK to be treated and paid as professional members of the team to enable them to look after children effectively, following the release of our State of the Nation’s Foster Care survey. The State of the Nation’s Foster Care, based on a survey of over 1,000 foster carers, found that: • Fewer than half (47 percent) were paid a fee for fostering; • Two-thirds of foster carers did not have other employment in addition to fostering, so their only income from work is from fostering. The percentage of foster carers receiving a fee has not changed from a previous survey in 2007. Meanwhile, fostering services continue to struggle to recruit enough foster carers with the skills and experience to look after teenagers, disabled children and sibling groups. Jackie Sanders, The Fostering Network’s director of public affairs, said: “To help fostered children achieve the very best they can, we need foster carers to be properly paid, supported and enabled to carry out their caring responsibilities. “No other profession is expected to work for free. Social workers, teachers, nurses and childminders are all paid, why not foster carers? “In order to recruit and retain sufficient foster carers with the skills and experience to meet children’s needs, we need governments across the four nations to take action to ensure that they are paid for the vital work that they do. This will require significant additional investment over a period of time, but this is an investment in children in care that will help to transform their lives.” The report also found that more than half (52 per cent) of foster carers said they were not treated as a member of the child care team. Foster carers also raised the fact that they were not always given authority to make everyday decisions about the care of their fostered children, and that there needed to be improvements in access to and consistency of social workers. Sanders continued: “The survey results also quite clearly show that foster carers feel like second-class citizens when it comes to being part of the child care team. “We need a cultural shift across the UK to ensure foster carers are recognised, respected and treated as full members of this team. “In recent years governments have dedicated time and money to improving adoption and residential care. The Fostering Network believes that it is now time for an undiluted focus on foster care, to tackle these issues and ensure that foster families can offer the best possible care to children.” You can download the full report from The Fostering Network's website. Source: https://www.fostering.net/news/2015/we-must-pay-and-support-our-foster-carers#.VPN-B_msU1Z Foster carers and adoptive families who took exception to the new KFC TV advert took to social media to express their views as it hit their screens this week. The ad shows a boy with his social worker, arriving in a foster/adoptive family for the first time to a KFC dinner, and then whizzes through the highlights of his growing up in that family, playing football, getting a girlfriend, graduating... and then returning as an adult to visit his family for another KFC bargain bucket. Those who dislike the ad have argued that the trauma a child experiences in an abusive and/or neglectful birth family, compounded by the anxiety of being taken into care, cannot be mended by a bucket of chicken, however finger-lickin' good it might be. They believe that KFC are suggesting their chicken fixes these things. Some examples of the comments on Twitter: @TheMilesCollins: 'Fostering just got easier - [buy] a KFC 'bucket' - simples! #kfcadvert' @TaKenUK1: 'The new KFC advert is very disturbing. It diminishes the trauma and pain of children going into care and those already there. Complaint sent' @D0GZY: 'So the moral of that advert is, if you're a foster parent you should give your charge a KFC and that'll sort it! #KFC ...' Some have gone further still, creating a petition asking KFC to withdraw the commercial. The petition reads: '...This advert ... glorifies the care system with little to no thought having been given to the real children ... who are traumatized and have been torn away from their families and everything they know.' '...This ... is plain and simple commercial profiteering and exploitation of the deep trauma experienced by children and their families. ... We are asking for the advert to be immediately removed with a statement of apology issued ... KFC needs to stick with their chicken recipes and leave matters of child protection off of their menu.' But does the ad really imply that KFC is the cure for trauma? Could it not equally be argued that it presents the KFC bucket as a good emergency comfort food for welcoming a distressed and scared child into your family? It wouldn't be my first choice, admittedly, but there is something to be said for the (limited, temporary) cheering powers of eating a bit of fast food. My (adopted) children love KFC. I have no expectation that it will heal the emotional scars of neglect or domestic violence they suffered before being taken into care. But the rush of fast-food-induced happy-making endorphins to the brain is good for at least half an hour of relative peace and contentment, and frankly, I'll take that. It's also important to mention that the ad doesn't entirely skip over the challenges. The boy is shown as a teenager waiting outside the headteacher's office while the mum has a meeting, the implication being that they are discussing his behaviour. Many adoptive parents and foster carers – me included – can relate to that experience. A KFC spokesperson said: "We have done our utmost to approach this topic with respect and care, and sought the advice of those with expertise in fostering and child welfare ahead of production, including Barnardo's who we've worked with since 2011. The advert is intended to reflect modern families and simple ways of breaking down barriers through sharing." Gerry Tissier from Barnardo's added: "There are many thousands of looked after children in the UK waiting for someone to foster or adopt them. As the country's leading charity placing children with families, Barnardo's is aware of the many complex and sensitive issues involved in this work. "Barnardo's saw the KFC ad before it was aired. We recognise that it cannot fully convey the difficulties which children and young people face when moving into a new family. "However, we believe it shows that foster and adoptive parents can and do make a real positive difference to a child's life. If it persuades more people to come forwards for a child who needs a family, that will only be a good thing." Other fostering agencies have also expressed their support for the ad, making comments such as: Nexus Fostering: 'Congratulations @KFC_UKI on #50YearsofKFC. Love the new #fostering advert!' Liberty Foster Care: 'What a powerful advert, well done KFC #fostering #families' Park Foster Care: '@KFC_UKI Great new advert celebrating foster families, @ParkFosterCare likes the message; foster families making a remarkable difference.' The Fostering Network's Dominic Stevenson has written a well-reasoned blog post in favour of the advert, concluding: "[It shows] that a long-term fostering placement, with foster carers who are properly supported, can enable a young person to achieve academically, to be confident and fulfilled and to grow into independence with happiness. ... Yes it was fanciful, but was the KFC television advert exploitative? No, of course it wasn't. "People have started a petition to have the advert taken off television... but answer us this, why would we remove a positive portrayal of young people in foster care from our television sets? Rather than being outraged that it doesn't represent the full complexities of foster care, be encouraged that (even though we all know they're doing it to sell chicken) a major company feels that foster care is a positive way to represent the family in the 21st century." Yes, there is much more to adoption and fostering than we see in these 60 seconds. But it's an advert, not a documentary. Let's celebrate the triumphs it portrays. Source: http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2015/02/16/new-kfc-advert-ruffles-feathers-adoption-fostering/ More foster families are needed to meet the growing number of children going into care. That's the call from The Foster Care Co-operative in Wales who say there's a shortfall of nearly 600 new foster parents, and say people are being put off because they aren't sure whether they will meet the requirements. Rachel's like many other sixteen-year-olds. She is in college and has a part-time job. But she's also fostered - living with Gilly Davies and her husband in Merthyr Tydfil. “I was a young carer when I was living at home and things broke down... I just couldn't balance both. So I went into care, and I've had three placements. This one's been really successful.” Says Rachel Gilly has two-grown up children of her own, but says those she fosters are very much part of the family; "Being a Foster Carer isn't like a 9 to 5 it is a 24 hour job. When a new child comes to live with you, it does take time to get to know each other and settle into a routine. It is hard work, we have tough times - but these are certainly outweighed by the good times. I want those who have thought about it to make the initial call.” There is an issue with there not being enough carers, because unfortunately there are a lot of children who do need a foster home, and just not enough people coming forward at the moment. “I think part of the problem is there are a lot of stereotypes around fostering, so people don't think that they could be considered as a foster carer or are nervous about coming forward.” Kim Perkins, Registered Manager (Wales) for The Foster Care Co-Operative Rachel's now looking ahead to university, and wants people to see how a stable foster home has changed her life for the better. Watch the video here: http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2015-02-08/more-than-500-new-foster-carers-are-needed-in-wales-warns-charity/ Source: http://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk/fostering-with-us/news-and-events/hear-a-teenagers-story-of-how-her-foster-family-transformed-her-life/ More foster families are needed to meet the growing number of children going into care. That's the call from fostering agencies in Wales who say there's a shortfall of nearly 600 new foster parents. The Fostering Co-Operative say people are being put off because they aren't sure whether they will meet the requirements. Rachel's like many other sixteen-year-olds. She's in college and has a part-time job. But she's also fostered - living with Gilly Davies and her husband in Merthyr. "I was a young carer when I was living at home and things broke down... I just couldn't balance both. So I went into care, and I've had three placements. This one's been really successful." – RACHEL Gilly has two-grown up children of her own... but says those she fosters are very much part of the family. But one charity says there aren't enough carers like her, warning more than 500 are needed across Wales. "There is an issue with there not being enough carers, because unfortunately there are a lot of children who do need a foster home, and just not enough people coming forward at the moment. I think part of the problem is there are a lot of stereotypes around fostering, so people don't think that they could be considered as a foster carer or are nervous about coming forward." – KIM PERKINS, FOSTER CARE CO-OPERATIVE Rachel's now looking ahead to university, and wants people to see how a stable foster home has changed her life for the better. Watch the report from Mike Griffiths here New research published by The Fostering Network highlights a desperate need for foster carers across the UK. They estimate a total of 8,370 new carers are needed to meet the demand of providing loving foster homes for some of the UK’s most vulnerable children. As TFN point out, with 13 per cent of carers leaving the service or retiring last year, there is a constant need for renewal. They also point out that the need for carers is particularly chronic for those able and willing to provide homes for teenagers, children with disabilities and sibling groups. Even recruiting this number might not suffice. In order to properly provide children in care with the care they deserve, even more carers may be needed. TACT will soon publish the results of our recent children’s survey, where we interviewed children in our care across the UK. One of the clearest messages received from that was that young people would like to be offered a choice of placement. This makes absolute sense. We all prefer to have a choice, even for the most mundane of life’s selections. What could be more important that having a choice over who will be offering you a home and family? In order to achieve this, a greater pool of carers is needed to be able to offer a selection of suitable placement. This might not always be possible and, in some circumstances, such as finding an emergency placement, not practical. However, it is something we should always aim to offer. Achieving this will also help us meet our commitment to children in care under our international human rights obligations. Many of TACT’s carers tell us that they had never previously thought about foster care or known much about it. Often they would hear about how rewarding it was from friends or family. We are constantly told that becoming a foster carer was the best decision they ever made. We know there must be many thousands of people across the UK who would become fantastic foster carers. We need to find them! To do this most effectively we need to look at the recruitment practice of those offering fostering services. We are increasingly seeing carer recruitment advertising targeted specifically at recruiting carers from other agencies, offering financial inducements to transfer. TACT recognises that we operate in a competitive environment and that carers who are not happy with their current service may wish to find another. Our own website says we are always keen to speak to experienced carers, particularly if they can help us provide placements for young people that need the most support. However, recruitment aimed specifically at attracting carers from other agencies simply redistributes the existing pool of carers, it does nothing to address the chronic need for new carers. Recruitment should focus on attracting new carers, particularly those who might not have considered fostering before. This is the only way we can hope to address the massive and currently unanswered need for new carers. Foster care transforms lives. We need more people to do this. Source: http://tactcare.org.uk/news/we-need-new-foster-carers-not-a-redistribution-of-the-existing-pool/ |
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