In response to the announcement that a record number of children are living in the care system in England, Jackie Sanders, director of public affairs at The Fostering Network, said: "With record numbers of children in care in England, the role of foster carers in providing homes for children who can't live with their birth families is more important than ever. "There has been some concern raised about the drop in adoption orders. Adoption and long-term fostering are both valid permanency options for children, as are SGOs, living with wider family members and residential care. The first priority when choosing a permanency option should not be legal status, but rather the welfare and wellbeing of each child, and finding the right home and family for them. That is why The Fostering Network is keen to have less of a focus on the fact that adoption orders are dropping, and to make the story the fact that children are having more opportunities than ever to find the right placement to meet their individual needs. "While adoption will be right for some children, we do not want children who rightly remain with foster families, in residential care or with members of their wider family to consider themselves second class children because their circumstance means that they should not, or cannot, be adopted. There should be no stigma surrounding being in care, and no hierarchy of placement options. "We are encouraged to see that 48 per cent of young people are staying put with their foster carers three months after their 18th birthday, but the real statistics – how many stay when they’re 19, 20, or access further or higher education - will come in time. We campaigned for a change in legislation to allow this to happen and will continue to push the Government to provide adequate resources so that local authorities can provide as many young people as possible with the opportunity to stay with their foster carers if they so wish, while at the same time ensuring that these foster carers aren't being forced to fund this out of their own pockets. "Looking forward, we know that the ongoing challenge will be for fostering services to recruit and retain the skilled and effective foster carers who can meet the needs of these children, particularly teenagers, sibling groups, disabled children and unaccompanied refugees." Source: https://www.fostering.net/media-release-news/2015/record-numbers-children-in-care-in-england#.ViTBl36rTIV On 17 September 2015, Fostering through Social Enterprise held a one-day Information Security Workshop at the Action for Children offices in Watford.
The workshop, chaired by Ian Brazier of Foster Care Co-operative, was attended by 20 or so staff from FtSE member organisations, as well as NAFP and CoramBAAF. The keynote address, entitled Managing Information Security in a Fostering/Adoption Setting, was presented by Katie Hanrahan, a Lead Auditor with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Other presentations included:
Over the last 4 years the Unthank Family Centre (UFC) have worked with more than 350 children and families, committed to strengthening their relationships, helping families cope with difficult times and creating better futures. Joining Break will enable the UFC to do more and help more children and families. The UFC offers individual packages of therapeutic support and group work for children and families, both in their own practice rooms and in venues across Norfolk and Suffolk. We also provide training, consultation and support for the children's workforce, thereby increasing the capacity of everybody who works with children to understand and support them. A head teacher said: "Amazing service, would definitely use again - no hesitation." A parent told us: "They did wonders with him. They got him talking again and his confidence has come back." The Unthank Family Centre being part of Break will enable us to change more young lives. http://unthankfamilycentre.org/ Source: http://break-charity.org/news/news-stories/unthank-family-centre-joins-break/ |
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