Foster carer charter launched to reduce care bureaucracy
Janaki Mahadevan
Friday, March 18, 2011
The government has produced a foster carers' charter in an attempt to reduce the everyday obstacles faced by both foster carers and children in care.
Children’s minister Tim Loughton launched the charter, claiming that it will encourage more people to sign up as foster carers and help foster children have greater stability by setting out what support should be available to them.
The charter aims to remove bureaucracy that prevents children in foster care undertaking activities like getting a haircut and going to sleepovers.
Launching the charter, Loughton said: "Foster carers are the unsung heroes of our care system. They do a fantastic, selfless job helping often vulnerable children build stable relationships that can endure into adulthood. Too often I hear stories about foster parents feeling isolated, unsupported and facing endless red tape when all they are trying to do is enjoy everyday activities with their foster child – like taking them on holiday or even for a haircut.
"I hope every local authority and fostering agency will sign up. I particularly want local areas to sign up to the spirit of the charter and build on and develop it in their own way to reflect the needs of the local community."
The charter is designed to:
- Make it clear that a foster child should be treated as part of the family and their views should be listened to and taken on board
- Help tackle myths that foster carers cannot let their foster children do everyday activities like sleepovers and holidays without facing barriers
- Set out what support foster carers should expect from their fostering service and local authority
- Help councils recruit and retain foster carers
The government has also launched an online tool to encourage young people to send their views to Loughton. The Tell Tim tool is aimed at young people in care, those who have left care or those working in the care system.
Children’s rights director Dr Roger Morgan said: "A charter must first make sense, and then must happen. This one makes sense to children – the minister has put a lot of what they told him they wanted into it. Next, what it says must actually happen and then be monitored."
The charter was developed in partnership with children, charities and fostering organisations, including the Fostering Network, The Adolescent and Children’s Trust and advocacy organisation Voice.
Andrew Christie, of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said: "The charter reminds us that carers are at the heart of any plan for the child in their care, and that they should be involved in decision making and be clear about the support available to them.
"It provides a clear and easily understandable set of principles to guide the relationship between foster carers and the local authority in providing for the needs of some of the most vulnerable children."