Fostering News: Don't Move Me Campaign

The Fostering Network is taking Don't Move Me, its campaign to help young people in England stay with their foster carers post-18, to the House of Lords.

The charity’s amendment to the Children and Families Bill has been tabled by the Earl of Listowel and will be debated in the House of Lords following their summer recess. The amendment was recently debated in the House of Commons in June and received a huge amount of cross-party support and now the Fostering Network wants to build on this by working with peers raise awareness of the issue and generate backing for the campaign.

Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at the Fostering Network, said: "We called on the fostering community to tell the Government what they wanted done for our vulnerable care leavers, and we were delighted with the response.

"We are sorely disappointed that children's minister Edward Timpson, refutes the need for legislation and instead wants to encourage local authorities to adopt a voluntary approach to setting up these schemes in their area. With only one in 20 young people remaining with their foster carer past the age of 18 years old, it is clear that this approach is not working.

"The Fostering Network regularly hears from foster carers and young people themselves the current voluntary system does not work, and intends to publish a report demontrating this. We are currently are asking all local authorities in England asking their provisions for "staying put", including the numbers of young people still living with their foster carers and the financial support in place."

Please help us win this campaign so that another generation of care leavers does not have to face the same struggle as they enter adult life. There is still an awful lot to do. You can help by:

• Writing to your MP;
• Writing to a Peer;
• Telling your friends how much this means to you and asking them to write to their MP.

You can find out more about the Don't Move Me campaign, and information on how you can get involved via our website. Tell your friends about Don't Move Me by sharing the campaign video wall.##

Source: www.fostering.net/news/2013/dont-move-me-update#.UiEj29KsiSr

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