UK
Foster care charter to be released
The government is planning to publish a national charter for foster carers early next year, CYP Now can reveal.
The charter will list basic standards and principles for foster carers and their children, and will set out how councils should support foster families.
Junior children's minister Tim Loughton said the charter is intended to help end the "postcode lottery" of support for foster carers. "For the first time this will set out the principles of what good foster care placements are all about. When I speak to foster carers, some say they've got a really good relationship with the local authority, but some don't," he explained. "Everyone should be able to sign up to this. If you're in the business of being a foster carer, there are some basic principles that you have to extend to the young people in your care. And if a local authority signs foster carers up, there are certain things that carers should expect as part of the deal, which too often they don't get."
Raina Sheridan, deputy chief executive of the Fostering Network, said a national charter for foster carers "is absolutely essential". "We've been talking to the government for some time about the benefits of a charter for foster carers," she said. "There are far too many inconsistencies in the relationship that foster carers have with their fostering service and this really needs to be resolved.
"Many foster carers say they are not recognised as professionals and equal members of the team involved with looking after a child. By having a charter in place, it will clarify many of the issues that foster carers face and ensure everyone knows what to expect."
Lauren Higgs
26 October 2010
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/ByDiscipline/Social-Care/1036807/Foster-care-charter-released/
