Ray – TACT Foster Carer since 2009
East Midlands

My life has always been very child focused. I have a 19-year-old son with my wife Anne who works in childcare, two older girls from my previous marriage and four grandchildren. My brother and sister-in-law fostered with TACT for 23 years before they retired this year and we often spent time with children in their care. As we had a spare bedroom in our house, we decided that we would love to give a child a chance of a family life, with support and love, and so ten years ago i became a foster dad.

Shortly after we were approved to foster, we received a phone call regarding a young man from Afghanistan who was at a police station after being found on a lorry. We only had 15 minutes notice before a social worker brought him to our house so we quickly put fresh bedding on and waited. To say we were nervous would be an understatement.

This boy came to our house with only a plastic bag containing a few clothes given to him by the police, and he had no knowledge of English. We did our best to make sure his needs ere met and we learnt a lot very quickly. First, we went to our local mosque where we found help and advice from some lovely people. Then we visited a halal shop where we received tips on what he could and could not eat. Finding him a school was particularly difficult as not many had places available, and the fact that he didn’t speak or write much English made it even more complicated.

However, I did my best and phoned and chased people until a place was found. When children are in my care, I will always do all I can to support them and get them the best outcomes possible. As three out of four of the children we have cared for were unaccompanied asylum seekers, being their foster carers meant taking them to legal meetings and supporting them throughout intense and stressful times. The list of processes we have had to undertake when a child moves in with us could be very long, but the way I look at it is just the same as with any other family member. You fight for them to get what they need.

Being a foster carer means everything to me. I have loved helping the children in my care, supporting them and watching them gain confidence and achieve great things at school. This doesn’t end when the young person leaves our house. We are still in touch with all our former foster sons. They know that we are still here for them and they are welcome to pop in anytime.

I am proud to say all the boys are doing well in life. Our first foster son has his own family now and he still calls us mum and dad. The second one is working really hard but makes sure to find time to come visit us. Our third son received his leave to remain status last year and he is now studying for a degree at university.

Our own son is now 19, and to him the boys are just like family. I still remember when our first foster child arrived at the house, the two boys spent the evening playing on a game console. No talking was needed, they were communicating as children do.

I would recommend to anyone who is considering fostering not to overthink it and just go for it. And when you get that phone call about a child that might be placed with you don’t listen only to negatives. All children are different but they have one thing in common – they all need support and a family.

Read more carer stories here.

Source: 
https://www.tactcare.org.uk/
​

Location: Bristol
Salary: £33,561 pa + £1,500 Out of
Hours Rota Allowance
Closing Date: 16/06/2019
Interview Date: 27/06/2019
Hours: 35 hours per week​​

Full Time - Permanent
Home based
TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity now has over 500 dedicated carers, who look after over 600 children and young people across the country. Our reputation and growth rests upon our strength in providing successful placements. As a charity, we do not have shareholders who receive profits and we invest all of our surplus income into service, staff, carers, and children’s development.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a national non-profit making organisation at a local level. We are interested in individuals for whom quality of service is paramount and in those who share our commitment to working in partnership with children and their foster carers in the development of the agency.

The overall purpose of this role is to recruit, assess, train and support a diverse range of foster carers and placements.

You are required to have the following experience:

• Post qualifying experience which should be in family placement work or post qualifying experience in other child care settings.
• A proven track record in working with and on behalf of children, respecting and maintaining their individuality and promoting their positive development.

You will need to be DipSW, CSS or CQSW qualified and registered with the HCPC. An enhanced disclosure is also required and is requested for you by TACT.

You will be required to be on an out of hours’ rota and you will be paid an out of hours’ allowance of £1,500 per annum once participating in the rota. 

TACT offer an excellent benefits package including 31 days paid holiday, flexible working arrangements, group income protection scheme, x10 death in service, stakeholder pension scheme, child care vouchers and fantastic learning and development opportunities. Please see the job information pack for further information.

Closing: Sunday 16th June 2019
Interviews: Thursday 27th June 2019 at TACT South West (BS16 2QQ) 
​ 
TACT reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Full details and application documents here

Senior Supervising Social Worker
Senior Supervising Social Worker - Fostering
Full Time, Office Based Position
Fixed Term for 6 Months with potential for Permanent Appointment

TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity now has over 500 dedicated carers, who look after over 600 children and young people across the country. Our reputation and growth rests upon our strength in providing successful placements. As a charity, we do not have shareholders who receive profits and we invest all of our surplus income into fostering services, staff, carers, and children’s development.

Our vision is to provide better lives for our children and young people.

The overall purpose of this role is to recruit, assess, train and support a diverse range of foster carers and placements. The TACT East Midlands Team are seeking an enthusiastic and committed Senior Supervising Social Worker for this full time office based role. The successful candidate will be supporting and supervising foster carers across the region so the ability to travel is required. In addition the successful candidate will provide support to other less experienced members of the social work team. The post will be offered on a fixed term contract for 6 months initially with the possibility of being made permanent thereafter.

The successful candidate will have the following :

• Post qualifying experience which should be in family placement work or post qualifying experience in other child care settings
  
• A proven track record in working with and on behalf of children, respecting and maintaining their individuality and promoting their positive development
  
• DipSW, CSS or CQSW qualifications  
  
• Current registration with the HCPC
  
• An enhanced disclosure (which will be undertaken for you by TACT)

You will be required to be on an out of hours’ rota and you will be eligable for an out of hours’ allowance of £1,500 per annum once participating in the rota and in addition TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package including:

• 31 days paid holiday
  
• flexible working arrangements
  
• group income protection scheme
  
• x10 death in service
  
• stakeholder pension scheme
  
• a staff discount scheme 
  
• fantastic learning and development opportunities

Please see the job information pack for further information.

Closing: Midnight on Thursday 23rd May 2019
Interviews: Friday 31st May 2019 at TACT East Midlands (NN15 7HH)

TACT reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Apply here

 

TACT Fostering and Adoption is the UK’s leading charity provider of fostering and adoption services. Working in nine offices across Scotland,England and Wales, we are dedicated to providing creative, effective and outcome-focused services for children, young people and families.

We are looking for that unique person who can assist TACT in offering a range of services which impact positively on the welfare of children. To work in partnership with parents, carers, children, young people, local authorities and their social workers according to the agreed contract of work.

The overall purpose of this role is to work closely with looked after children, the birth children of foster carers and foster carers to achieve agreed objectives for excellent care as outlined in the 7 core aims for Children in Wales / 5 Every Child Matters Outcome Areas in England. Candidates with the ability to speak Welsh would be desirable.

Due to the nature of this post the successful candidate must be willing to show flexibility regarding hours and days of work which will include evenings and weekends. Occasional overnight stays may be required for organised events. 

An enhanced DBS clearance is required for this role which TACT will undertake.  Please see the Job Description and Information Pack for more details.

Closing: Friday, 3rd May 2019
Interviews: Monday, 13th May 2019 in TACT Wales Office (CF11 9LJ)

TACT reserves the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, you are advised to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Full details and application documents here:
www.tactcare.org.uk

TACT Connect – a new initiative by TACT to celebrate and support care experienced people throughout their adult lives, has been launched with a special art exhibition showcasing pieces created by Connect members.
19 year old Channan was among members of the Connect community on hand at the launch event to talk to visitors about their art work, which all shared theme of ‘message to my younger self’.

T​ACT Connect – a new initiative by TACT to celebrate and support care experienced people throughout their adult lives, has been launched with a special art exhibition showcasing pieces created by Connect members.

19 year old Channan was among members of the Connect community on hand at the launch event to talk to visitors about their art work, which all shared theme of ‘message to my younger self’.

Her particular creative effort features a photo of Janette who fostered her through TACT from the age of one, and then adopted her when she was 8. Among the many personal messages in the artwork is Janette’s wise advice to Channan – its ok not to be ok. The fact that she is HIV positive is also depicted, and there is an image of her taken during a school visit to talk to pupils about the disease.

Channan said: “It is great to be given the opportunity to connect with other young people who have been in care and have similar life stories. Creating my art piece made me think a lot about my own story, I found it therapeutic.”

TACT Connect aims to create a dynamic network of TACT care leavers, who will be able to meet each other through special events, learn and access new skills, and gain support in reaching personal aspirations.

Mark Riddell – National Advisor for Care Leavers was among the guests at the launch event.

Mark said: ”Initiatives like TACT Connect are important because they are led by the voices of care experienced young people. This is a new concept and it would be good to see similar work happening elsewhere in the country. We need to be ambitious about how we support care experienced people, and TACT Connect is a really good starting point.”

The exhibition will take place at Centrala, in Birmingham, from Tuesday 9th until Friday 12th April 2019, 11am – 6pm.

Source:
www.tactcare.org.uk

Location: Northants
Salary: £40,500 pa + £1,500 OOH Allowance
Closing Date: ​02/04/2019
Interview Date: 16/04/2019
Hours: 35 Hours Per Week

TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity, now has over 500 dedicated carers, who look after over 600 children and young people across the country. Our reputation and growth rests upon our strength in providing successful placements. As a charity, we do not have shareholders who receive profits and we invest all of our surplus income into service, staff, carers, and children’s development.

TACT's East Midlands service has been rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted and we are offering an exciting opportunity for an experienced, dynamic individual to assist and support the Area Manager in the operational management of the Area Team and the recruitment, assessment, training and support of a diverse range of foster carers and placements.

To be considered, you will need to have experience of working with children and young people in a statutory setting and ideally have a management qualification.  You will also need to be HCPC registered and have a DipSW, CSS or CQSW qualification.  An enhanced DBS clearance is required and this check will be undertaken by TACT on your behalf.  The use of a car is essential.

You will be required to work an out of hours rota, attracting an additional allowance of £1,500 per annum. 

TACT offer an excellent benefits package including 31 days paid holiday, flexible working arrangements, group income protection scheme, x10 death in service, stakeholder pension scheme, child care vouchers and fantastic learning and development opportunities. Please see the job information pack for further information.

Closing: Midnight on Tuesday, 2nd April 2019
Interviews: Tuesday, 16th April 2019 at TACT East Midlands (NN15 7HH) 

TACT reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

More details and application documents here

A glossary of words and terms that aims to change the language of the care system has been published.  Language That Cares is a collaborative effort led by adoption and fostering charity TACT (The Adolescent and Children’s Trust) and the charity’s children and care experienced young people, with contributions from 15 local authorities and organisations.​

Read the glossary here 

TACT East Midlands has been rated Outstanding by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), for its work with foster carers and looked after children in the East Midlands. 

Outstanding is the highest judgement that an Ofsted inspection can bestow on an independent fostering agency. In summing up why TACT East Midlands deserved such an accolade Ofsted stated that it ‘provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions (of TACT) contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people.’

Among the many elements of TACT East Midlands’ service that warranted high praise from Ofsted were:

• Children, some of whom have very complex needs, make exceptional progress because of the extremely high quality of individualised care and support provided by their foster carers.

A TACT care leaver said: ‘My foster carer didn’t just give me a place to live but she gave me a place in her heart. TACT and my foster carer were the main people who put me on the right path.’

• Placement stability is a major strength, with nearly half of the current placements being of over two years’ duration.
• A real commitment to making the best matches is a significant factor in successful placements, and the rate of unplanned endings is low.
• Foster carers receive an excellent standard of support and access to relevant training. These are major contributory factors in the positive outcomes that children achieve. This includes access to a psychotherapist, the use of the children’s resource worker and highly committed and skilled supervising social workers.

​ One foster carer said: ‘They (TACT) are a brilliant bunch of people to work with. They return calls straight away. I never have to chase them. Our supervising social worker is brilliant. I cannot fault them.’

TACT CEO Andy Elvin said: “I am extremely proud that our East Midlands service was rated so highly, and I know that in terms of quality of provision it is the same story across the whole of TACT. It is brilliant that Ofsted has recognised the skill, commitment and expertise of our Outstanding East Midlands staff and of course our fantastic foster carers.”

Source: www.tactcare.org.uk

We are thrilled to announce that a video featuring TACT ambassador Solomon O.B. performing his new poem Raising Celebration​ has made it onto the shortlist for the Charity Film Awards!​ These prestigious awards have been created to celebrate the success of film in fundraising, to increase exposure of charity films and to encourage donations for good causes.

Thank you to everyone who has supported TACT in the public voting round.
Shortlisted films will be now judged by a panel of judges who will select the finalists in March.

Solomon O.B – 25 Years of TACT Fostering & Adoption​