The Fairer Fostering Partnership
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Introduction
    • How To Become A Member
    • Application Form
    • Our Terms of Reference
    • Our Constitution
    • Our Charter
  • Campaigns
    • #forchildrennotprofit
    • Brad Kella’s Fostering Journey | Foster Care Fortnight
    • Fostering Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
    • Changes to Fostering in Wales
    • Beyond Language that Cares
    • Vision for Children in Foster Care
  • Member Agencies
  • News & Jobs
  • Useful Links
  • Contact Us

Fostering News: Long-term fostering must be on equal footing with adoption and SGOs in new legislation, says The Fostering Network

12/9/2016

 
Picture
Calls for amendment of clause 8

The Fostering Network is calling for an amendment to clause 8 of the Children and Social Work Bill, to ensure that long-term fostering is on an equal footing with adoption and special guardianship orders when it comes to possible permanence options for children in care.

Clause 8 of the Bill expands the information that courts must have in the care plan when deciding whether to make a care order for a child. 

Courts must currently consider the local authority's long-term plan for the upbringing of a child set out in the "permanence provisions" of the care plan. The clause will mean that, going forward, courts will have to take into account the impact on the child of any harm that they have suffered, the child's needs, and how the care plan meets those needs now and in the future. It is anticipated that, by ensuring better information is at the forefront of decision-makers' minds, the right placement – the one that is most likely to meet a child's needs throughout their childhood – is pursued from the outset.

However, while the clause specifically mentions adoption as a permanence option, it does not explicitly include long-term foster care which will, for the majority of children, be the best possible permanence option. We are calling for an amendment to the clause to include long-term fostering, for which there is now a legal definition.

Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network said:
"We are particularly concerned with the lack of recognition of long-term foster care as a valid permanence option, especially in regards to clause 8 of the Bill.

"We believe the Bill provides an opportunity to improve outcomes for looked after children, and we welcome the intention of clause 8 to ensure that the long-term needs of the child are looked at in order to develop a plan that will assess and meet their current and future needs. However, we want to ensure that all permanence options benefit from this clause. Therefore all options, including long-term fostering, should be written explicitly into the Bill.

"We believe that it is in the child's best interests to set out permanence options clearly and without prejudice to one another in the Bill. Clarity in the eventual law is essential to avoid some options being seen as more important than others in a 'hierarchy of care'.

"Currently three quarters of looked after children are fostered and therefore any change to improve the outcomes for children in care, such as this Bill, must include a focus on foster care."

Source:
http://www.familylawweek.co.uk


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    News & Jobs

    News stories and job vacancies from our member agencies, the fostering sector and the world of child protection and safeguarding as a whole.

    Browse Categories

    All
    Action For Children
    All4U Fostering
    Barnardo's
    Break
    Community Care
    Community Foster Care
    EPIC Family CiC
    Fair Ways Fostering
    FFP News
    Fostering Families
    Fostering News
    FtSE Member News
    FtSE News
    Industry News
    Kasper Fostering
    Member Job Opportunity
    Member News
    New Routes Fostering
    Pact
    Safer Fostering
    St Christopher's
    Supported Fostering Services
    TACT
    Team Fostering
    The Caldecott Foundation
    The Children's Family Trust
    The Foster Care Charity
    Together Trust
    Young People At Heart

    Photo of small child looking at yellow flower - part of FtSE's branding
The Fairer Fostering Partnership
c/o TACT Fostering
Innovation House
PO Box 137
Blyth
NE24 9FJ
[email protected]
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Introduction
    • How To Become A Member
    • Application Form
    • Our Terms of Reference
    • Our Constitution
    • Our Charter
  • Campaigns
    • #forchildrennotprofit
    • Brad Kella’s Fostering Journey | Foster Care Fortnight
    • Fostering Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
    • Changes to Fostering in Wales
    • Beyond Language that Cares
    • Vision for Children in Foster Care
  • Member Agencies
  • News & Jobs
  • Useful Links
  • Contact Us