CYP Now - Guide helps foster better awareness of pet benefits

Following uncertainty by children's services into whether looked-after children should be cared for in homes where pets are kept, a fostering expert has put together a guide to help councils develop more animal-friendly policies.

Name: Dogs and pets in fostering and adoption

Provider: The British Association for Adoption and Fostering

Since the publication of a 2014 report by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) that found a six per cent rise in the number of dog attacks in England, there has been a move by local authorities to develop more risk-averse policies on placing looked-after children with foster carers and adopters who own pets.

It highlighted an issue that has been a concern to Paul Adams, foster care consultant at the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), for a number of years. When an adviser to a fostering panel, he noticed there was little recognition of the benefits of placing looked-after children with foster carers and adopters who had pets.

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