Last month the government released its response to the fostering stocktake and education select committee inquiry, Fostering Better Outcomes. We were pleased to see that the government puts children’s needs and views at the heart of their vision for foster care. High quality, stable and trusted relationships are also a welcomed priority. However, we, along with the Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers, were disappointed that the government did not outline how they would deliver this vision, or make a commitment to funding. Something which we agree is needed to achieve the best outcomes for children in care. We would welcome clear guidance from the government over how they hope to make this vision a reality. A priority for our own fostering service is to ensure that we offer stable placements so we are pleased to see the introduction of the National Stability Forum. We agree that a joined-up approach by leaders from across the sector will improve the outcomes for children in care. We would like to see the government to place more emphasis on the Staying Put policy. Having worked with other charities on the Staying Put report, this remains a priority focus for our own placements. We would like to see the government address the barriers that exist for the Staying Put policy. Along with our colleagues in the Alliance, we are happy to see a commitment to improving fostering and look forward to working with the government so we can achieve an equal chance in life for the children and young people in our care. Jill Sheldrake, Service Director Source: www.togethertrust.org.uk The sector feels let down by two recent reviews, but there are still clear ways to help foster families Inquiries are like buses: you wait for ages and two come along at once. Fostering has been ignored by officialdom for so long that when separate reviews were launched by MPs and the Department for Education, it was inevitable that expectations would run high. Not so much among foster carers, who have learned through bitter experience that not much ever changes. But children’s services, fostering agencies, social workers and care leavers all saw this as a golden opportunity to press for changes they felt were urgently needed. Fast forward a few months: the reviews have come and gone and the government has responded. Foster carers, it seems, were right to be wary. Nadhim Zahawi, the children’s minister, broadly welcomed both reviews and made recommendations to embed best existing practice across the whole system. It is difficult to disagree with any of it, but those expecting major reform, such as giving employment status to foster carers, were left disappointed. There is no extra money, of course. The charity Fostering Network described it as “a huge disappointment and a wasted opportunity”. Where does fostering go from here? There is no doubt that it faces significant challenges. Some are rooted in the crisis facing social care generally after years of austerity. Others are specific to fostering, including the recruitment and retention of carers for record numbers of children and young people removed from birth families. But foster care also has great strengths, safeguarding children at risk and transforming many lives. As a foster carer, I see the profound difference we make every day. There are steps that can be taken to improve the lives of carers and support their work with vulnerable children. These are my suggestions:
As an extension of this, it should be possible to continue allowances after a child moves on, to recognise that a foster carer’s work continues for a time after each placement (for example, completing paperwork such as diary notes, liaising with schools and other organisations that had contact with the child or preparing the home for the next placement). Emotionally, the end of a longer placement can be tough and it takes time to bounce back. Having a small number of days still remunerated by the fostering provider feels fair. In the spirit of the government's response, none of these suggestions represents radical change, nor will they solve all of fostering's problems. But they address day-to-day challenges and go some way towards acknowledging that fostering families are also entitled to care and respect. And they won't cost the earth. Martin Barrow is a journalist and foster carer. Source: www.theguardian.com At Action for Children, we are pleased to welcome our new CEO, Julie Bentley. Julie joins us after 6 years as chief executive of the charity GirlGuiding UK. "Action for Children works with some of the most disadvantaged children and young people in our society," she said. "Its work is crucial and it will be an honour to join the trustees, staff and volunteers to take the charity forward." "I am passionate about children and young people reaching their potential and young people have always featured heavily in my career. It is clear that Action for Children makes a real and meaningful difference to the lives of those you support and that as a result their life chances, quality of life and well-being are improved." John O’ Brien, chair of Action for Children, said: “Julie Bentley is a fantastic appointment. She will bring with her much valued experience and skills. Action for Children is proud to have her on board to help transform the lives of disadvantaged children across the UK. I know she will help us to make a huge difference to the lives of the children, young people and families we support.” Source: www.actionforchildren.org.uk The Fostering Network is disappointed with the Westminster Government’s response to the fostering stocktake and education select committee inquiry in England, Fostering Better Outcomes. Put simply, although there is very little in the report that we fundamentally disagree with – and indeed a number of recommendations which we support - it lacks teeth. It fails to set out an ambitious plan that will create the much-needed systemic change in the fostering sector, and we do not believe that it will achieve the improvements that are desperately needed to ensure that foster care is the best it can be for children and the families that look after them. We are concerned that they have fundamentally misunderstood the role of foster carers and what they need to be able to do their job properly for children. We believe the continued insistence of referring to ‘foster parents’ ignores the wider role and responsibilities of foster carers and the skills and experience they bring. While the report does lay out a vision for foster care – it begins with five excellent over-arching ambitions – it is not clear how this will be delivered in concrete terms. Moreover, the Government appears to be taking virtually no responsibility for the delivery of this vision – phrases such as ‘we will urge’ and ‘we will encourage’ run throughout the report with no explanation of how those being urged and encouraged will be supported financially and practically to achieve this change or held to account. The apparent complete lack of scrutiny means that the current status quo will be too easy to maintain. In terms of recommendations, the report also sets out very little that wasn’t already known or isn’t already happening. During the consultation process for both the stocktake and enquiry, The Fostering Network and our members were very robust in our responses. This included over 2,500 foster carers expressing their views through our State of the Nation survey. Although the report does pick up on our Foster Carers’ Charter and our Keep Connected campaign, it appears to gloss over the most important issues raised in our responses – allegations, respect, the professional role of foster carers, pay and allowances, a foster carer register – while highlighting areas like physical affection which, while important, are not the issues which are going to lead to a step change in fostering. We are staggered to think that after two years the Government believes that foster carers feeling more empowered to hug the children in their care is one of biggest issues facing fostering. Our current State of the Nation survey, which is still open for foster carers to take part in, shows that only four in 10 foster carers feel that the allowance they receive is actually covering the costs of looking after the children in their care. The report ignores our call (and indeed the education select committee’s) for a review of the national minimum allowances, meaning that foster carers are having to subsidise the care of young people on behalf of the Government, the children’s corporate parents. In the same way, the report ignores our call for foster carers to be paid properly – which we know is a major issue for many foster families – simply passing the buck to fostering services. Indeed, the lack of funding is ignored throughout the report, as it turns a blind eye to any financial issues facing fostering services and foster carers Staying Put is another area that the report takes only a cursory view on. We are pleased that the report says that the Government will “refine the policy to address some of the most significant practical barriers” but we have been very clear that the primary practical barrier is the lack of funding for Staying Put. The report does not address funding at all, and without this, the wellbeing of future generations of young care leavers is being jeopardised. We are also surprised at the lack of focus in the report on allegations. Nearly four in 10 of the 2,500 foster carers who have already taken part in this year’s State of the Nation survey say that they have had an allegation made against them. In any other area of work, this would not count as “infrequent”. It is absolutely not enough for the Government to “urge LAs to ensure their allegations processes are fit for purpose and ensure the well-being of foster parents throughout” without any plans to hold local authorities to account when - as happens all too often - these processes are not followed. Again, the lack of scrutiny and taking responsibility is abundantly obvious. Allegations have a significant impact on foster carers and the children they are looking after. Nothing this report suggests will, we believe, change the current situation for foster carers facing allegations. We are disappointed that the report makes no recommendations about a register beyond saying this is to be explored. Surely the last two years has been the opportunity for exploration, and now should be the time for action. We remain convinced that a national register of foster carers would raise the status of foster carers, increase their portability and help increase the safeguarding of children. We welcome the focus on stability, and the introduction of the National Stability Forum, as well as the promise to tighten up some guidance. We warned the Government after the publication of the stocktake report that it was not evidence based nor would it create the necessary change. We are pleased that the Government has ignored some of the more controversial recommendations from the stocktake report, such as the dispensing with the role of independent reviewing officers, but this was a chance to radically overhaul the fostering system to make foster care better, but it feels like an opportunity missed. There is no sense of the Government taking ownership of improving fostering, nor of the urgent need for change. The voices of foster carers have largely been ignored and the tens of thousands of children and young people in their care have been let down. We would encourage all foster carers to take part in our current State of the Nation survey. 2,500 foster carers took part two years ago and it is now all too clear that those voices were not loud enough for the Government to listen. We need more people to take part this time so that their voices cannot be ignored. Source: www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk TACT are delighted to be part of the Peterborough City Council success story in achieving a “Good” rating across all areas in their recent Ofsted Inspection of children’s social care services which took place between 25th June and 6th July 2018. This is the first time Peterborough City Council’s children’s services have been rated “Good” since its formation as a Unitary Authority in 1998. Last year Peterborough became the first council to outsource its permanency services (fostering, adoption, kinship/special guardianship order & family group conferencing) and chose TACT as their partner. Since April 2017 TACT have worked tirelessly and closely with Peterborough to make the improvements required and we are still on that journey. As Ofsted said: “Statutory functions in relation to fostering and adoption are delegated to a national charity which provides a seamless service model.” It is the strength of our partnership with Peterborough that has allowed this seamless service model and the subsequent improvements. Ofsted also noted that: “Children live in placements that meet their needs, and overall placement stability is good. The majority of children in care live with foster families. Children are matched appropriately to carers, including, where possible, carers willing to commit to the option of Staying Put in the future. Planning and support for children who are unaccompanied asylum seekers is a strength. Foster carer recruitment, training and approval are effective. Assessments of foster carers are of good quality. The fostering panel addresses issues within assessments thoroughly, and carers’ reviews consider the views of children in placement. Providing equivalent support to foster carers, connected persons, special guardians and carers of privately fostered children is making a demonstrable contribution to the quality and stability of placements for a wide range of children. Children are matched appropriately to carers, and children receive high quality, stable care. For the small number of children who have had several placements, this has been appropriate and well managed. Disabled children achieve permanence and stability in placements that meet their long-term needs. Children are encouraged to pursue a wide range of hobbies and interests, which are consistently promoted and reflected within their care planning. Children spoke with pride about their individual interests and achievements and how much they enjoyed the free leisure passes, residential holidays and summer schemes which Peterborough local authority provides for all children in care” Peterborough’s strong performance and this judgement from Ofsted clearly demonstrate that their brave and far-sighted decision to work in partnership with TACT has improved services for children in care. All of us at TACT are delighted to be part of Peterborough’s success story. Read more here Source: www.tactcare.org.uk We are delighted to announce that Jonathan Whalley will be the next Chief Executive of St Christopher’s. Jonathan is currently a Regional Director of Children’s Services for Barnardo’s and brings a wealth of relevant strategic and operational experience with him from both the local authority and voluntary sector. Jonathan began his social work career almost 30 years ago in residential care. He has worked at a variety of levels within children’s social care and with a particular emphasis on children who are looked after and leaving care. He was a senior, strategic leader for Luton Borough Council before joining Barnardo’s in 2008 where he has been the Director of Children’s Services for The South East of England. He has a proven track record as a change manager and is an effective strategic leader. As participation is a key part of St Christopher’s approach, young people were involved in the interview process for the position of Chief Executive. Young people came up with the activity, where they built one half of a bridge in secret and applicants individually built a second half, before the two teams came together to combine their bridge halves. The aim was to see how well the candidates worked as a team and came up with creative solutions to problems. Jonathan said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as the Chief Executive of St Christopher’s Fellowship. I am joining at an exciting and critical point with the huge responsibility of leading the organisation to achieve the objectives set out in the new five-year strategy. I was delighted to learn that social pedagogy has been embedded as St Christopher’s philosophy of care, and am very excited to bring my knowledge and experience to the role.” St Christopher’s Chair of Trustees, Hanif Barma, said: “When I first met Jonathan, I knew he was a great candidate for the role of Chief Executive. We spent the first part of our discussion talking about participation and the involvement of children and young people, and Jonathan clearly enjoyed his activity with the young people as part of the selection process. The young people were particularly impressed by the creativity he showed.” Current Chief Executive Ron Giddens announced his retirement earlier in the year after almost 20 years at St Christopher’s and two in his current role. We wish him all the best for the future and thank him for his dedication and passion to changing young people’s lives. Jonathan will join St Christopher’s in October 2018. Source: www.stchris.org.uk TACT CEO Andy Elvin has been featured in a article in Children and Young People Now about the decline in the number of fostered children in Staying Put places. Staying Put is an arrangement where young people remain with their foster carers following their 18th birthday, and was formalised in the Children and Families Act 2014. Among a number of solutions Andy offers to reverse the decline of Staying Put placements, he argues that Staying Put foster carers should retain their status and still be eligible for support from their local authority or independent fostering agency. To read the full article, click here. Source: www.tactcare.org.uk |
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