From jumping out of a plane to baking cakes, there are many ways to support The Fostering Network
Cathy Glass shares her thoughts on how you can get involved in fundraising for The Fostering Network - from skydiving to baking to walking.
Call for an amendment to clause 8 of the Children and Social Work Bill
Clause 8 of the Children and Social Work Bill expands the information that courts must have in the care plan when deciding whether to make a care order for a child.
Leading education programme shortlisted for award
Fostering Achievement has been running since 2007 and provides bespoke educational support and resources to looked after children living with foster families in Northern Ireland.
The programme’s impact is increasingly apparent in improved outcomes for young people. Of those GCSE students who received tuition from Fostering Achievement in 2014, almost twice as many gained five or more A*-C grades compared to the general looked after child population.
Campaigns update July 2016
We reported last time that the Children and Social Work Bill had been introduced to parliament which we have been working on during July as well as scrutinising other reports from the Government.
The big screen
I’m misleading you a little this week because I’m not going to be blogging about the cinema. Though what I’m attempting to describe was at times as surreal to me as something you might glimpse on the big screen. This week’s blog is about the Home Office screening interview that all children seeking asylum in the UK need to attend.
A summary of the reports and consultations recently released relating to foster care in England
Andrew Walker, a member of The Fostering Network’s practice support team and a social worker, reflects on a summer of consultations and reports in England.
So much for work slowing down during the summer. The Westminster Government and related agencies issued a flurry of documents for consideration in June and July which have kept the Practice Support Team busy in between going away for their summer holiday.
Response to BBC story about cash incentives to recruit foster carers
In response to a BBC article about foster carers being offered cash incentives to move between fostering providers, Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: 'The Fostering Network has transfer protocols which guide the way in which fostering services should manage the movement of foster carers between fostering services, and which have support from across the fostering sector.
Unfounded allegations
Allegations against a foster carer by a child in their care is a subject most carers would rather not think about, believing it couldn’t happen to us. Sadly it happens to many of us and the majority of those who have allegations made against them are not new carers but experienced ones, just like a friend of mine and her husband who’d been fostering for 10 years.
A child arrives from overseas
We’ve all seen it on the news. We’ve watched the exodus of men, women and children with a mounting sense of horror and helplessness. We know that there are thousands upon thousands of children displaced from their homes and everything they’ve ever known. We know many of these children are on their own, traumatised, bewildered and afraid.
Launch of a new guide for foster carers supporting unaccompanied asylum seeking children
The Fostering Network has today launched its new guide for foster carers on supporting unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The guide, which is relevant UK-wide and is suitable for foster carers who are new to caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children or who have been doing so for some time, is available to download as an eBook for £2 each or £20 for 20. Printed versions of the guide can also be arranged on request.
