REFORM FOSTERING TO REVIVE STRUGGLING CARE SYSTEM, TOP CHARITIES DEMAND
EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER 2009
FOSTERING REQUIRES radical reform if the struggling system is to cope with pressure from rising numbers of children coming into care, 13 children’s charities are warning this week, with the launch of a major new campaign.
While thousands of children have a positive experience of fostering, the system is letting too many children down. With more children coming into care and the demands on foster carers’ skills, time and experience increasing, reform is vital.
In an open letter to children’s minister Ed Balls, the charities said: “The care system is under pressure. Increasing numbers of children with complex and challenging needs require the stability and security that good foster care can provide.
“But the reality is that despite improvements the system is struggling to cope. Children in care still move too frequently, leave too early and too often fail to get the help they need to achieve their potential. This cannot be allowed to continue.
“It’s time to recognise and value the difference good foster care makes to children’s lives. To achieve this foster carers must be recognised as a crucial part of the child care team, and must be properly paid and supported.“
The letter was signed by the chief executives of the Fostering Network, Action for Children, BAAF, Catch 22, Children England, The Children’s Society, The Frank Buttle Trust, A National Voice, NCB, NSPCC, TACT, Voice and The Who Cares? Trust. The leading charities have come together to mark the launch of Together for Change, a new campaign from the Fostering Network.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, added: “When foster care works it works really well, providing children with stability, security and a positive experience of family life. But we know that for too many fostered children and too many foster families this is not the case – the system is letting them down.
“Recent high-profile stories have highlighted the pressure the care system is under and the need for reform. With almost three-quarters of children in care rightly living with foster families, improving outcomes for children in care means improving foster care, and that’s why we are launching this major new campaign.
“Through Together for Change we want to see foster care work for every fostered child and every foster family.”
The Fostering Network is also writing to the relevant ministers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
ENDS
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For more information contact the Fostering Network on 020 7620 6425 or email .
Notes to editors
- Together for Change is the Fostering Network’s new long-term campaign bringing together everyone with an interest in providing the best care and opportunities for fostered children. It has three themes, aiming to ensure that foster carers:
- have the status and authority to provide children with a good experience of family life
- have the skills and support they need to help children achieve their potential
- are properly remunerated
For more details, see
- Around 60,000 children are in the care system on any given day in England. Of these, over 70 per cent (over 42,000) live with 37,000 foster families. The Fostering Network estimates there is a shortage of 8,200 foster families.
- The Fostering Network is the UK’s leading charity for all those involved in fostering, and aims to make life better for fostered children and the families that care for them.