More Children Go Missing From Foster Carers

Ofsted statistics show that there was a large increase in numbers of children going missing from foster care.

Children went missing from foster care on 13,305 occasions in 2013-14 - a 36% rise on the previous year.
Nearly six out of 10 missing cases were from independent fostering agencies, rather than a local authority, which have just under a third of placements.

According to the Ofsted statistics, during the year 2013-14, 4,245 children and young people were reported to have gone missing from foster care - 900 more than in the previous year.

Contact with family or friends was the reason given in nearly half (6,596) the cases. And most of them went missing for less than a day.

However, 528 of these children who did go missing were deemed to be at risk of sexual exploitation, and 431 of the cases were said to be linked to substance misuse.

There was also a big increase last year in foster placements breaking down - up 21% on the previous year to 5,240. Although there has been a change in the way these are counted.

Support For Teens In Care A 'National Scandal'

Children's Minister, Edward Timpson has said that too many teenagers in England leave care without enough support, ending up in a "trap of poverty and joblessness".

Mr Timpson said it was a "national scandal" and urged councils to do more to make sure they have a "solid start". He wants such teenagers to be given higher allowances towards setting up home and more foster placements. The Local Government Association says councils should not face new financial expectations at a time of drastic cuts.

Mr Timpson's comments come as figures suggest many 16-year-olds leaving care are not in education, work or training by age 19. According to the figures cited by Mr Timpson, more than a third (35%) of children in care leave by the age 16 and, of those, 45% will not be in education, employment or training - so-called Neets - three years later.

Mr Timpson said the "cliff-edge" of leaving care was often too sudden and poorly planned, with many teenagers finding the move "traumatic".

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

PM Unveils 'Foster To Adopt' Plan



Photograph by o5com

 Prime Minister, David Cameron has said that new-born babies being taken into care should be fostered by people who want to adopt them.


Mr Cameron says the law in England will be changed to encourage more councils to do this - so more babies can find a loving home earlier.

He says it is "shocking" that so many babies taken in to care at one month wait 15 months to be adopted. The government has pledged to simplify and speed up the adoption process.

It wants babies to be placed with prospective adoptive parents before the courts have decided to remove them permanently from their natural parents. In some cases, there might be disappointment for those trying to adopt, because the courts might eventually decide to return the child to its natural parents.


Most often, children are moved from foster carers to adoptive parents once the courts have decided that the child should be adopted - a process that often takes more than a year.
 
You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18724999

Fostering Services Need To Reach Out To A Wider Range Of Carers

The care system is facing major challenges as the number of looked after children rises and retiring foster carers are not replaced fast enough, warns Children's Minister, Tim Loughton.

Mr Loughton has urged fostering services not to be blinkered when considering who has the capacity to foster and to reach out to a wider pool of potential carers – able to help the increasingly challenging needs of children coming in care.

He argued that there will be a rising turnover of foster carers over coming years, caused in part by an aging workforce – the vast majority are already in their late forties to mid-50s. He said without younger and skilled foster carers coming forward, the current shortfall of carers will only grow.


The Fostering Network said last week that an extra 8750 foster carers are needed across the UK this year alone. The Network said that three out of five fostering services are “desperately seeking foster carers”; and that 98 per cent were looking for more foster families for teenagers than last year.

You can read more on this story and view related resources here: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00209325/fostering-services-need-to-reach-out-to-wider-range-of-carers

The Government's Progress On Reforming The Care System

Tim Loughton, the Children's Minister spoke to social workers at the Community Care Live conference about the Government's progress in reforming child protection, fostering, adoption, the care system and the social work profession.

Mr Loughton's speech is available to read here:
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/speeches/a00209139/community-care-live

New Campaign Hi-lights Need For More Foster Carers

22 Minutes, a new recruitment campaign launched by the Fostering Network, emphasises the fact that a child comes into care and needs a foster family every 22 minutes across the UK. As a result, at least 8,750 more foster families are needed in 2012 alone.


You can read more about the campaign launch here: http://www.fostering.net/news/2012/new-campaign-highlights-need-more-foster-carers and visit the 22 Minutes Campaign website to watch the 22 Minutes trailer film and other videos and read their foster carer blogs.

Adoption & Fostering

Ministers are drawing up guidance for local authorities and adoption agencies that say that race and cultural background should not be a barrier to adoption. In an interview with The Times, Children's Minister, Tim Loughton said that too many children languished in care because social workers held out for the "perfect match" rather than deciding whether the would-be adopters would provide a good home. Loughton said there was "no reason at all" why white couples should not adopt black, Asian or mixed-heritage children. Read the article in full via the NewsBank Newspapers UK database.
Meanwhile, new research from the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) has found that misconceptions about the adoption process are putting many people off trying to adopt. The study found that people wrongly believe that older people, those with criminal records, single men, smokers and non-swimmers would be excluded from adopting. Read the press release here: New research reveals "alarming misconceptions" about modern adoption, says BAAF.