Sam Lister and her partner Paul had never heard of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. But as experienced foster carers with 13 placements behind them, they knew there was something wrong with their adoptive son Lee when he was just five-months-old. “He was floppy, he couldn’t sit up. He just wasn’t right,” says Sam. By the time Lee was two his behaviour was erratic. He was biting, spitting and showing compulsive habits. These are all typical symptoms of FASD, which is caused by the mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy. “Lee had a thing about locked cupboards and would constantly turn the lights on and off,” Sam remembers. It took another two and a half years before her son, now aged six, was given an accurate diagnoses by a paediatrician. “My support workers held their hands up and admitted they didn’t know anything about FASD. They didn’t have a clue. But after the diagnosis my adoption support worker was fantastic and put me in touch with the charity for parents of FASD children.” Her story is far from unique, according to Julia Brown, founder of support charity the FASD Trust.“The reality is that the care system has become a family-finding service for children with FASD,” says Brown. In recent years the charity’s helpline has received an increased number of calls from prospective adopters anxious to find out more about the condition, which causes pre-natal brain damage, before deciding whether to continue with their application. FASD is also having an impact on children who are undiagnosed and who are subject to special guardianship orders or being looked after by kinship carers. Martin Clarke, learning and development manager at the Adolescent and Children’s Trust charity and adoption and fostering agency, says: “That’s my biggest worry because these families are not offered the same level of support as adoptive and foster carers. Traditionally they are older people, maybe grandparents who say ‘I don’t want my grandchild going into care.’ But they won’t be prepared for the behavioural and emotional problems which occur because nobody has prepared them for it and they will be unable to cope with the placement longer term.” There are no official figures for the number of children in the UK care system with FASD. The condition can often be misdiagnosed because symptoms are similar to some of those traditionally seen in children with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is estimated that up to 3% of the UK population has the condition, although academics Penny Cook and Raja Mukherjee have argued that figure could be underestimated and warn the UK is in the grip of an FASD “hidden epidemic”. Research carried out in Peterborough in 2015 gives an indication of the prevalence of FASD among looked after children. The audit revealed a third of looked after children in Peterborough referred for a health assessment had the condition, and three-quarters of children undergoing adoption medical assessments had the potential of FASD as their birth mother had a history of alcohol. If these figures were applied across the UK then, according to a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on FASD published in December, there are “major implications” for government policy. The report followed the group’s earlier inquiry into FASD. Chair Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central, says: “We don’t know if the Peterborough figures can be applied across the whole country or if Peterborough is at the top end of the statistics. But these figures go a long way to explain why so many children end up in care and why it is so difficult to improve their life chances. What we need to see is a complete sea change in our attitude in social work, teaching and health. We need to see a massive FASD education programme right across the board.” New UK alcohol guidelines recommend women abstain from alcohol if they are trying to get pregnant and during pregnancy because of the risks of FASD. Esterson believes this is “really, really good news” with the potential to change public and professional behaviour. The FASD Trust has already started to raise the profile of the condition among health and social care professions. It has established a professional forum for social workers, following a similar one for clinicians. And the trust runs training programmes for councils already alert to FASD. But Brown says: “What’s happening though is that an authority will ask us in to train their foster carers, but not their social work staff which is really interesting. They see it as a carer issue – not something which impacts on professional practice.” Clarke also trains his staff in FASD awareness but says only robust research will change practice: “At the moment there isn’t credible evidence around to get FASD onto social worker or teacher training courses. We need to have a proper study done so that we know how many children we are talking about.” Source: http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2016/feb/09/how-foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder-affects-the-care-system Kasper Fostering has achieved the highest possible accreditation for a fostering organisation - the coveted ‘OUTSTANDING ACROSS ALL AREAS’ rating - awarded by Ofsted! We have just received our Ofsted report following an inspection in July last year, and the wait has been worth it… Praising the support given to foster carers and improving outcomes for looked after children and young people, the Ofsted inspector found Kasper to be “exceptional, with significant elements of their work exemplary.” The Ofsted report highlights close and effective relationships between staff and foster carers, who view the agency as a ‘supportive extended family due to the emotional and practical support they receive.’ Young people in foster placements with Kasper are also consulted by Ofsted as part of the inspection. The report captures some of their feedback on the service, including ‘my carers treat me like one of the family’, ‘there is room for my graduation photo on my carer’s wall’, and ‘if I need help or am worried about anything, I talk to my foster carers and they help me.’ The report further adds that agency has a comprehensive understanding of the individual needs of children - and is able to recruit, prepare, assess, train and support a range of skilled foster carers to meet those needs. The report states the ‘agency’s assessment, support and training of carers is excellent’; and a social worker also commented, “If I need to place another young person in foster care this [agency] would be my first choice.” Founding Director Mac Ornsby said, “Providing a quality service, not only to children in our care but also to the foster parents looking after them and the staff who support them, is at the very top of our agenda.” “We are hoping that anyone out there considering becoming a foster carer might look at the feedback Ofsted has given us and come forward... Couples, families, and single people – we need a wide variety of carers from all different backgrounds and cultures to provide a safe, loving home for children and young people across the region.” Kasper provides a wide range of short and long term foster placements, including those for adolescents, sibling groups, parent and child placements and children with complex needs. We are not-for-profit, child-centred, and invest all our resources into young peoples’ futures. Talk to us about becoming a foster carer - you could work with an outstanding agency to change a child’s future too. For more information on becoming a foster carer, or to find out more about Kasper, call 01227 275985. To view the agency’s Ofsted report online, please click here. Source: http://www.kasperfostering.org/news/ofsted-awards-kasper-fostering-highest-possible-rating/ There is no higher accolade than to be trusted with a child who needs support, and when they make progress it makes the difficult times worth it Fostering is a job filled with many surprises, and not always good ones. On numerous occasions I have found myself sitting on the stairs with my head in my hands asking why I continue to put myself and my family through this. Like the time when a 10-year-old boy took a knife from the kitchen drawer and threatened to kill himself. Or when a seven-year-old ran out of the house screaming obscenities as an elderly neighbour was walking past. I’ve been spat at, had broken glass waved in my face, and been up all night waiting for a 13-year-old to be returned by the police. I’ve become an expert at head lice removal and have developed a selective sense of smell, especially when entering a teenager’s bedroom. I have had to smile when I feel like screaming with frustration and talk quietly when my natural reaction would be to shout. I first applied to be a foster carer as the single mother of two preschool children. I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum but also financially independent, so my health visitor suggested it. At that stage I knew very little about what was involved, other than looking after children who were unable to live with their parents. I wasn’t really aware of how badly damaged some of the children would be – it was a quick learning curve. To become a foster carer you must go through a lengthy and at times quite intrusive assessment, involving questions about your life that can prove very thought-provoking, verging on quite difficult. In my case they included my divorce, the death of my father, finances and parenting style. It felt like the most I had ever shared with a single person. After completing the process, I attended a short training programme and was approved in 1989. What has followed has turned out to be an exhausting, rewarding, exciting and punishing 26 years of my life. It is like no other job in that you are neither “employed” nor “self-employed”. There is no national pay scale or salary as such, despite recommendations from the Fostering Network. In the UK, payments vary from county to county, with some areas paying a fee as a reward and others only very basic maintenance. The local authority that I foster for pays the recommended maintenance allowance, which should cover all costs for caring for a child and a small fee as a “reward” for my time and skills, equating to around 50p an hour. There are no set working hours; when you have a child or young person living in your home, you are, like any parent, there for your children all the time. I met my husband eight years after I began fostering. He had close family who fostered, so already had a good understanding of what was required. We rely on his income for our day-to-day living, as the main foster carer is not encouraged to go to work. I’ve always been very proud of how my children accepted others from very different backgrounds, and have been great role models for them. I’m also conscious that they didn’t really have any choice at times, and that as teenagers they may have needed more of me than they got. At the beginning I was very selective as to which children I took in, ensuring they would be the best possible fit with our family, and always considering my own children’s safety. I initially relied on my local authority’s fostering team to guide me through this. As the years have gone by, I know which questions to ask when I have an empty bed so that I feel fully equipped with the right skills to care for a certain child. Training provided by my local authority has allowed me to explore the physical effects of brain trauma when a child has been neglected, beaten, or emotionally or sexually abused. This sort of treatment can damage the child so much that they can be unlovable at times. Despite the training, it is only when you are living with one of these children that you can fully appreciate the emotional turmoil foster carers go through. Some children have stayed with me for just a few days, some for a number of years, and others for ever – like our adopted daughter, who came into our lives as a parent-and-child placement initially. Our family had no intention of adopting prior to this, and managed for over 20 years before it happened. But it was right for everyone. Children leave our care for numerous reasons. Some go home; others move to permanent carers via adoption, special guardianship orders or long-term care. In an ideal world, we would have contact with all those who have formed an attachment to us, but unfortunately this isn’t always realistic. Rather than not being encouraged, as has been suggested, I believe it is not adequately supported and becomes less of a priority in the eyes of the social workers. It can leave a huge hole in your heart when some children move on. They take a piece of you with them that is never replaced. Others barely wave, like complete strangers, and our memories of them fade to almost nothing. I have been at the birth of three babies from young women who had previously been in my care as teenagers. There is no higher accolade than to be trusted with such an amazing and rewarding task. For many young care leavers, a foster carer is one of the few people in their life they can turn to at such a time. Despite the downsides, there are many days where I feel like I’m in the most privileged of positions. When a child or young person makes progress, begins to trust you, sleeps through the night without wetting the bed, and especially when they feel safe enough to share their worries, all the hard work seems worthwhile. Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/secret-life-of-a-foster-carer Christmas is always an interesting time of year… no less for that of our Foster Carers. Jo, a Foster Carer from our South region, tells us about her Christmas experiences… Christmas in Foster Land Christmas in my household has never been ‘normal!’ I was blessed with 3 children, all young adults now, but my son (23) has autism, ADHD & learning difficulties so life has been extremely unpredictable ever since his arrival! Whatever ‘normal’ is, it certainly doesn’t occur within a fostering household either! A happy time for many children is overshadowed by a complex array of emotions that are experienced by looked after children. The last few Christmas seasons have, for myself, my own children, my granddaughter & the children I foster, been extremely exciting, challenging & diverse, all at once! One Christmas, for example, I and my children had welcomed our first foster child exactly one week before Christmas day. She arrived, at just 6 years old, with a list of diagnoses as long as my arm! Nothing that I hadn’t experienced before but living with children who have complex disabilities, not to mention the additional challenges that accompany any looked after child, can be as exhausting as it is exciting. Looked after children, for example, have experienced loss, grief, rejection, heart ache, trauma, abuse, neglect and possibly many of these together along with emotions we can barely begin to comprehend. This particular child had severe autism, global developmental delay, severe speech and language disorder (she had no verbal communication skills), a restricted diet, oh, and how could I forget, a severe sleep disorder. We had already met, and fallen in love with this delightful little girl though, she had melted out hearts so rearranging Christmas to accommodate her needs was, we felt, a very small price to pay! So, that Christmas we kept everything quiet, calm & peaceful to allow her to settle and accept us before inviting other’s to our home. At the Christmas table was just myself and my adult daughter with a 3rd place set for our new little girl who was known to eat very little in food variety or, indeed, to even eat at the table. Knowing that she liked white meat but very little of the other traditional Christmas foods, we had placed her specialist high chair & a plate of turkey meat alone, none of the trimmings and none of the fuss. She had actually already been given her own favourite food for lunch earlier so there was no pressure for her to join us at the table. We made no fuss and ate our dinner quietly as she ran around the room making many of her unique vocal noises, she occasionally glanced over to see what we were doing and appeared to be suspiciously investigating the scene. To our enormous surprise, our cool, calm and almost aloof interpretation of Christmas dinner appeared to be a triumph as our own little Christmas miracle unfolded before us! She very quietly and gingerly approached the table, sat on her chair and gulped down her turkey before skipping off to resume her own private party and engage in activities that gave her pleasure, that is, running around and making lots of noise! We sat, aghast at the table, speechless yet secretly satisfied that, although it was very early days and a very small achievement, in her world, and ours actually, it was a huge achievement! We were delighted and felt that we had witnessed our own little Christmas miracle. Not much of a miracle you say? If you knew how difficult life can be for a looked after child then add in profound and complex disability then I think you would agree, a true ‘Christmas miracle!’ The next Christmas in our home was completely different again. We had, by this time welcomed two new arrivals to live as part of our family. We had a mother and her new baby girl arrive in our home just two days after her birth. This mother and baby placement, after a difficult start, had also stolen our hearts and by Christmas, despite knowing that they would be moving on eventually, were truly a part of our family. So, in the lead up to Christmas we excitedly dressed and decorated the house for the festive season with two exciting events to prepare for. One, to celebrate the birth of Jesus and all that this means to Christians, and two, to help with the planned move of mother, baby and baby’s father into a small flat nearby to live as an independent family unit in the community. As such, this had been a successful placement with a very positive outcome so there was much to celebrate. I personally felt that it was a privilege for me and my family to have supported this family and to share in a small part of their amazing life journey. Preparations for both events meant that it was a very busy but very exciting time. Christmas day itself, waking up with a baby in the house again was actually more fun for the adults I felt. So we allowed ourselves to indulge in the fun in the morning before sending both mother and baby off to join their own family for Christmas dinner. At the end of Christmas day, as we waited for our youngsters to return, it began to dawn on me that Christmas in our house hold would be celebrated in very different circumstances each and every year as we welcome very unique and diverse youngsters to our family home. This reflection on the future of Christmas in our home was both exciting and daunting. I think it’s fair to say though that I and my family thrive on meeting new people and new challenges and I’m very intrigued to see what next Christmas brings! Just a little bit about the Christmas we have just celebrated! I found myself without a child in placement this year as we had been supporting another mother and her new baby boy who had successfully completed the assessment and returned to live as a family unit just a week before Christmas day! This lady was experiencing her own Christmas miracle as she had overcome many hurdles to prove that she could care for her baby independently. Some of the women who come to mother and baby placements have genuinely had a run of bad luck and just need to acknowledge their problems and receive the right support and commitment from others to turn their situations round. This lady did just that and I like to think that we were lucky enough to be involved with yet another such situation. Finding myself with no child in placement, yet still willing to accept placements at very short notice, I found that the prospect of a short notice placement was very exciting but at the same time I felt it would be lovely to spoil my own family more for just one Christmas. My own mother, a very difficult (I chose this word over challenging deliberately), angry and aggressive lady had just lost her dog and lives alone in Spain with now few friends surrounding her. She also now has limited funds so, against my own better judgement and at very short notice, literally on Christmas Eve, I arranged to fly her home to join us for Christmas. I had let my heart rule my head as, despite loving my mother dearly, maybe like for many of the looked after children, her presence often leaves me feeling confused, disillusioned and down hearted as nothing I do is ever good enough. However, we did have a lovely Christmas in that my own children rallied round and were able to provide some very light hearted and entertaining distraction for me with their humorous and practical responses to any situations that arose. It was a stressful time too though as there was not much in the way of praise or gratitude despite my kind hearted and sympathetic offerings. There was much criticism and a great deal of complaining. This served to remind me that not only do our looked after children need to be offered as much love, care, consistency, routine, discipline, patience and reassurance as we can provide for them but also that we, the carer’s need to harness our friendship and support networks in order to take care of ourselves. We need to attend to our own emotional health as we need to be in the best place ourselves to care for these very vulnerable children. Even more so at holiday and festival times. This Christmas I thank God that I had one parent, my father, who was loving, consistent, caring, patient, available and reassuring but who also disciplined firmly but fairly and set a very good example of how to be a decent person. Some children have only one parent or care giver with whom they have a good attachment whilst others, unfortunately have none. These children really need our understanding if they are to feel valued and empowered in this stressful world we live in. As I learn more about attachment and attachment difficulties, it occurs to me that what I see with my own mother’s presentation could be explained as attachment difficulties. She was sent away to boarding school at a very young age. In the 1950’s this was not unusual for slightly more affluent families as parents travelled and worked abroad. Her own younger siblings were subsequently cared for at home by their parents with a very different upbringing. This does not excuse her behaviour over the years towards myself and my sister but I am trying to demonstrate that there are generally reasons behind behaviours and whilst not ideal, it helps me to be forgiving and to keep trying despite the setbacks. I think I would, in hind sight, now prefer to be looking after children in my home in the Christmas seasons of the future and am now very much recovered and rested and looking forward to the challenges and excitement of my next placement. Who knows what Christmas holds for foster carer’s and their families each year?! All I have found is that there is no ‘ normal’, we ourselves are all very different, and that for our looked after children the things we all take for granted as being exciting and happy are not always necessarily so. That is not to say that Christmas is never a happy time in a foster family home, far from it, it just means that we need to be a little bit more inventive, insightful and thoughtful in the way we present Christmas to the youngsters. With a little bit of forethought, Christmas can be a wonderful time for everyone. I sincerely hope that everyone at the Children’s Family Trust, staff and foster carer’s, have had a happy and a peaceful Christmas! I wish you all a very happy and healthy 2016! Source: http://thecft.org.uk/christmas-foster-carer-blog/ A PIONEERING fostering scheme in North Yorkshire is celebrating a major milestone. North Yorkshire County Council's Staying Put initiative, which enables 18 to 21-year-olds to stay in foster care, has now supported 100 people. The authority was one of the first areas to pilot the scheme in 2008 and has seen it go from strength to strength. Staying Put recognised that leaving a caring and secure foster home at 18 can be frightening for a young person, and distressing for the carers. NYCC's efforts to plug this gap have been recognised as a beacon of good practice. More than 80 per cent of the council’s Staying Put young people are in, or have completed, further or higher education, which is double the national average for young people leaving the care system. Cllr Janet Sanderson, executive member for children’s services, said: “The Staying Put programme is a priority for us. "It supports our most vulnerable young people by enabling them to stay with their foster families at a critical time in their lives. "This gives them continuity and stability, so they have the chance to achieve to the best of their ability and go on to get qualifications and skills that will help them build a fulfilling future. “And the fact that so many of our families are happy to maintain their relationship with the young person in their care shows just how fulfilling an experience people find fostering an older child to be.” Eight North Yorkshire care leavers graduated last summer, one with a first class honours degree, while 11 are studying at various universities, including Cambridge, Leeds, York and Edinburgh. Following the success of the pilot, Staying Put is now funded nationally by the Government, which pledged £40m over three years in 2014. The plan has been described by children’s charities as “the most significant reform for children in care in a generation”. NYCC has been selected by the Government to become one of six partner authorities to share good practice in children’s services at a national level. Children and families minister Edward Timpson, who grew up with 90 fostered brothers and sisters, said: “This is a real milestone moment for the Staying Put scheme. "I know from my own experience that fostering has a life-changing impact on children, and I am delighted that so many young people are now staying with their foster families in North Yorkshire beyond the age of 18. “I would urge anyone who believes they have the skills needed to become a foster carer to contact North Yorkshire County Council without delay, and take the first steps towards the challenge and joy of becoming a foster carer.” For more information on fostering, visit www.northyorks.gov.uk/fostering or call 01609 534654. Source: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14250887.Fostering_pilot_in_North_Yorkshire_celebrates_major_milestone/ Fostering News: Foster carers and children ‘prevented’ from keeping in contact after separation3/2/2016
Foster carers and children formerly in their care are often being prevented from, or not supported in, keeping in contact by fostering agencies and social workers, despite the majority of children in care thinking it is an important thing to do. A report by The Fostering Network found that 81% of 179 children in foster care felt maintaining relationships was important, yet 55% said their social workers did not support contact “at all”. More than 1,100 foster carers were also surveyed, and almost a third said their fostering service had not supported contact. The Fostering Network called on the government to produce guidance to ensure children and young people in care remain in contact with their former foster carers.
It also called for “proper attention” to be paid by inspectors of services to evaluate how relationships between children and foster carers are built and supported. Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at The Fostering Network, said social work practice should reflect that the “practice of cutting off the relationship between the child and their foster carer is damaging and social practice needs to reflect this as a matter of urgency”. Swain said: “If the governments of the UK are to create future generations of successful and happy care experienced young people, they have to support them in maintaining the relationships that bring them security, happiness, and the freedom to express themselves and fulfil their potential.” Source: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2016/02/03/foster-carers-children-prevented-keeping-contact-separation/ The Fostering Network is calling on all governments of the UK to enable children and young people who move within, or out of, the care system to be able to maintain their most important relationships, following the release of their new research report. The report, Keep Connected: Maintaining Relationships When Moving On, part of the charity’s campaign of the same name, spoke to over 175 children and young people, and over 1,100 foster carers. A survey of young people showed: • 22 per cent of children and young people in care, and care leavers, never keep in contact with former foster carers. • 29 per cent of children and young people in care, and care leavers, have been prevented from having contact with a former foster carer. • 55 per cent of children and young people in care, and care leavers, said their social worker does not support them to keep in contact at all. • 81 per cent of children and young people in care, and care leavers, said that it was important to be able to keep in touch with foster carers they have lived with. A survey of foster carers showed: • 24 per cent of foster carers rarely or never keep in contact with former foster children. • 32 per cent of foster carers have been prevented from having contact with a former foster child. • 30 per cent of foster carers said their fostering service was not very supportive in enabling contact with former fostered children. These findings are consistent with previous research conducted on attachment between foster carers and the children and young people they care for. In Foster Children: Where They Go and How They Get On (Sinclair et al, 2005), Sinclair wrote: “The bond between a foster carer and their fostered child should not be undervalued.” Sinclair followed 596 foster children and found contact with former foster carers is at least as important as birth parents. Children often spent longer with foster carers than their own parents, they had bonded with foster carers and trusted them more. The 2011 Care Inquiry, led by The Fostering Network alongside other sector charities and research bodies, found that relationships were the golden thread that ran through care and gave children and young people the best chance of a positive future. The Keep Connected report, and resulting campaign, was inspired by a foster carer who contacted The Fostering Network about a recent court case. They were prevented by the local authority from having any contact with a former fostered child. The judge ruled in the child’s/foster carer favour observing: “In a world of shifting family relationships in which children increasingly grow up with a wide range of connections that are seen as normal we need to take stock of why our approach to children in care is different. Why do we persist in breaking children’s old relationships when we introduce them to future carers, despite knowing that so many children who do not happen to be in care manage to negotiate complex family relationships as they grow up.” The Keep Connected report recommends that each of the UK governments has guidance and regulations that ensure local authorities and health and social services trusts make certain that foster carers who have developed a good relationship with children are enabled to support them as they move home, move to a permanent placement, or move into and through the leaving care process. The report also recommends that when and where local authorities, health and social services trusts and independent fostering providers are inspected, proper attention should be paid by the inspectors as to how these relationships are being built and supported for children and young people in care. Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at The Fostering Network, said: “The child is at the heart of all that The Fostering Network does, and we’ve been told in no uncertain terms by children and young people in foster care, and care leavers, that being able to stay in touch with their former foster carer is very important to them. The bond between a foster carer and their foster child can sometimes be stronger than that of the child and their birth parent, and we know the importance of valuing and supporting attachments particularly for these children in care who will most likely have previously experienced loss. “All the research shows that children who have secure attachments have better outcomes in social and emotional development, educational achievement, and mental health than those who do not have secure attachments. The practice of cutting off the relationship between the child and their foster carer is damaging and social work practice needs to reflect this as a matter of urgency. “If the governments of the UK are to create future generations of successful and happy care experienced young people, they have to support them in maintaining the relationships that bring them security, happiness, and the freedom to express themselves and fulfil their potential.” Devon County Council has been developing transition planning that places children in its care at the heart of its work. They recognised contact with former foster carers as one of the key elements to a successful transition to adoptive families. Councillor James McInnes is the Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for the fostering and adoption services. He says: “Children who move to adoptive families need to know that they will not be forgotten by their former foster carers. “We know that children can form strong relationships with new families while also maintaining a connection with their former carers, which is why we’ve developed transition plans that include ongoing contact with former carers. “If transition planning is done well, children not only show less traumatic behaviour, but they also feel more empowered to develop secure attachments with their new families." Source: https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/media-release-news/2016/keep-connected-contact-campaign-launched-new-research On the 31st January Team Fostering celebrated it's 15th year. Birthday celebrations took place across Team Fostering's offices and included staff, foster carers and some potential foster carers who were attending Initial Preparation Training on Sunday 31st January 2016. When Team Fostering first started we were a very small agency with a few members of staff and only one office with our first foster carers approved on the 31st January 2001 who, we are very pleased to say, are still fostering for us today. Since this time we have grown to cover the North East, Yorkshire and the East Midlands and now have 5 offices allowing us to provide stable foster homes for lots of children and young people and support for our many foster carers.
Thank you to all those who have joined us along the way. Here's to the next 15 years! Source: http://www.teamfostering.co.uk/feeds/news/happy-15th-birthday-to-us.aspx A charity spring ball in aid of Community Foster Care and its sister charity, Community Family Care, is to be held on Saturday 14 May 2016 at Hatherley Manor Hotel in Gloucester. Tickets cost £45 each, but we are offering an early bird special of £400 per table of 10 until 28 February 2016. Bookings can be made via email to clairen@communityfostercare.co.uk. All proceeds to go to both charities to pay for additional childrens' activities. Menu Glass of Buck Fizz on arrival Your Choice of Homemade Soup freshly prepared and garnished accordingly or Ham Hock Terrine, Sweet Pickle & Toasted Brioche Chicken wrapped in Bacon, Dauphinoise Potatoes with a Tarragon Mustard & Shallot Wine Sauce, Mixed Seasonal Vegetables or Individual Baked Mediterranean Vegetable Strudel on a tomato and red pepper coulis (v) Berry Fruit Meringue filled with Clotted Cream on a Raspberry Coulis Sauce or Sticky Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce Freshly Brewed Tea or Coffee with Chocolate Mints Mayor Joe Anderson says the city needs more people to help care for vulnerable children Liverpool foster carers are to have their council tax waived under a new scheme planned by mayor Joe Anderson to encourage more recruits. The move – which would save families more than £1,000 a year – is intended to boost the numbers of carers and help the council drive down the cost of looking after children with no homes. The innovative move, which is set to come into effect from the new council tax year in April, is part of a range of incentives to try to recruit another 200-300 foster carers in the city. The council will also offer “lifestyle passes” giving foster carers free access to city gyms and other facilities, the Mayor said, in addition to an allowances to cover the costs of fostering. The move was welcomed by John Simmons from the adoption and fostering specialist children’s charity, Coram. He said: “These children live some of the most uncertain lives you can imagine, they are a very vulnerable group. “The incentives will get people to think about fostering. Liverpool will want to encourage as wide a group of people to think about fostering, so things like council tax and other incentives can be part of that offer – but the primary motivation must be the care of the children.” Mayor Anderson said potential foster carers will undergo full and proper checks and will receive training from the council before they can look after children. He said: “We have got huge costs of providing support to fostering children and using outside agencies to place children away from the city because there are not enough here. “One of the things I’m trying to do is incentivise our own parents to support us in looking after children who need support and help in difficult circumstances. “This is something positive and innovative.” In 2014, the council introduced the ‘Payment for Skills’ scheme giving the city’s team of 300 foster carers a professional fee of up to £444 per week. That money was in addition to weekly age-related allowances of up to £203.75 per child. Liverpool has around 150 more looked-after children than it had five years ago, and the total number now stands at around 1,000. Mayor Anderson said: “This is my idea to try and help those within the city to help young people who need support – and this will also help the city at the same time.” People interested in fostering can visit the Fostering Liverpool website to find out more or call the recruitment line on 0151 515 0000. Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-waive-council-tax-bills-10820160 |
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