Kathleen Toner is the director of The Fostering Network in Northern Ireland and has written this blog for Foster Care Fortnight 2020

This is my fifth Foster Care Fortnight as chief executive of The Fostering Network, and each year I like to kick off the campaign by thanking all those involved in fostering for the vital role they play in the lives of children in foster care. Given the current difficult and unsettling situation, this year’s thank you seems more relevant than ever.

With the nominations for the Fostering Excellence Awards 2020 open, trustee and fostering service manager Ishara Tewary, tells us why we should all think about nominating someone we know in fostering.

Charlotte Andrew is the engagement manager at Three Circles Fostering. She established lgbtyouthincare.com and works nationwide with community groups to support, raise awareness and advise on best practice supporting lgbt+ youth in care. Charlotte has written this blog as an insight into fostering children and young people in the lgbt+ community during lockdown. 

Earlier this week Daisy Elliott spoke with Beth Neil, a professor in social work from the University of East Anglia. Neil, along with PhD candidate Ruth Copson, has recently launched a survey looking into contact between children who are adopted or in care and birth families during the coronavirus outbreak. The following blog details the conversation about her research.

In this blog Jade Irwin from our Step Up Step Down programme gives some guidance about how to self-regulate and co-regulate with others to reduce anxiety.

With the Government’s clear instruction that we must stay home, alternative ways are having to be found for children to keep in touch with their birth families and other people that are important to them. The maintaining of children’s special relationships has never been more important. For many foster carers, fostering service staff and birth families this means trying new video calling programmes, like Zoom, Google Hangouts and Skype, as well as keeping in touch with telephone calls and messages.

Conducting fostering panels is essential but with the lockdown firmly in place, it can be challenging. Many services are now looking to virtual fostering panels as a way forward. Helen, a panel chair for Rochdale Borough Council, conducted her first virtual fostering panel recently and here tells us how it went.