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North West Fostering Agency Looks To Recruit More Carers
FOSTER
carers play a huge role in the lives of many children who cannot
live with their parents, says the Department for Children, Schools &
Families (DCSF), by supporting some of the most disadvantaged young
people in our society and enabling their successful transition into
independent adult life. The green paper Every Child Matters makes
recruitment and retention of foster carers a government priority,
seeking to encourage more people to consider fostering, including
those who may not realise they are eligible, such as single people,
unmarried couples, lone parents and older people.
In England, there are more than 60,000 ‘looked after’
children and young people, defined as those who are in the care of
the council, almost 2/3rds of whom are aged 5 to 15 years, half have
experienced abuse and neglect, and most of whom (42,000 / 70%) are
living with foster carers. Yet it is estimated that there is a
shortage of at least 8,200 foster families and the North West alone
accounts for over 28% of that total (1,700), proportionately higher
than any other region and showing a worrying 37% decline in the
demand/supply balance since 2002. This significant regional
shortfall has prompted NW independent fostering agency (IFA)
Perpetual Fostering to mount a major recruitment campaign, aimed at
enrolling at least 50 new foster carers this year and 500 over the
longer term.
“We are currently inundated with fostering referral requests
from local authorities across the North West and we don’t have a
wide enough pool of carers to cope. There is growing
recognition that a shortage of foster carers is a contributory
factor to the poor outcomes of many looked after children and, in
the North West especially, we really need good, safe homes and
people with sound parenting skills to help remove these
disadvantaged young people from that negative equation.” says Perpetual
Fostering’s founder and CEO, Tahir Khan.
Part of the
Bolton-based Perpetual Care Group, the independent care provider to
children and vulnerable adults that celebrates its 10th anniversary
this year, Perpetual Fostering was formed in 2005 to support young
people whose needs could not be met in its residential care homes
and it assists local authorities in placing youngsters 0 to 18 years in
foster care, offering short, medium and long term placements. As an IFA, Perpetual Fostering is accredited by AGMA, the Association of
Greater Manchester Authorities covering fourteen councils across GM
and Lancashire, and its equivalents in Merseyside and the West
Midlands; it has also been favourably assessed by the CSCI
(Commission for Social Care Inspection), which commented that ‘whilst
the agency is in its infancy, its policies, procedures and protocols
were generally of good quality’.
A key finding from the BAAF (British Association for Adoption &
Fostering) study Delivering Foster Care was that a long term
management policy, clear targeting and a systematic marketing
approach were crucial to the recruitment and retention to foster
carers. So it is expedient that Tahir Khan holds an MBA from
Manchester Business School and has a Diploma in Management Studies
from Middlesbrough, as well as marketing experience with United
Utilities, and he brings these commercial skills to Perpetual
Fostering’s organisation, administration and recruitment strategy. |
Tahir also has
extensive experience of voluntary work, having been prompted by the
excellent care given to his prematurely born daughter, and was
formerly Chair of mental health charity MHIST, where the national
shortage of quality adult care provision motivated him to found
Perpetual Care, managing homes for adults with mental health
difficulties.
With regard to recruiting new foster carers, the recent DCSF report
on fostering and children’s homes, by PriceWaterhouseCooper,
suggested that demand for foster placements is expected to continue
growing to 2010 and that IFAs, like Perpetual Fostering, may play an
increasing role in the provision of care. The report suggested that
good quality IFAs are often able to deliver better support for
foster carers than local authorities, helped by a higher ratio of
Supervising Social Workers to carers, and typically offer
substantially higher payments to carers. This is borne out at
Perpetual Fostering, where its basic weekly allowance is £375 per
child, compared to the recommended national minimum of £131 for 5 to 10
year olds and £163 for 11 to 15 years, and, while financial reward is
not uppermost in the minds of prospective foster families, it is
reassuring that these and sometimes higher payments will compensate
for the carer possibly giving up a full or part time job.
So what makes a good foster carer? According to Tahir, someone with
empathy and nurturing for disadvantaged youngsters that have
experienced rejection, who need to have a patient and consistent
approach to sometimes difficult young people, provide a secure and
stable home environment, and preferably have some child care
experience, although some successful carers never had children of
their own. ‘Empty nesters’, whose children have left home for
college or careers, are ideal candidates, he says, but anyone can
apply to be a foster carer, as long as they have the time,
commitment, space and ability to look after children separated from
their own families.
There are no real age limits to fostering, other than a 21 year old
minimum, and it doesn’t matter whether the prospective carer is
married or divorced, single or co-habiting, nor will race, religion
or sexuality affect the application, although some criminal
convictions may prevent approval. Perpetual Fostering additionally
requires carers to be in good mental and physical health, be the
owner, co-owner or tenant of the property in question and have a
spare room for the sole use of the foster child. Also, the agency
usually expects the main carer to remain at home to look after the
child and take him or her to school, the doctors and other
appointments.
“Naturally, there are forms to fill in, visits to be made,
checks to be carried out and the whole process usually takes several
months. But this is a critical procedure and you would expect us to
be painstaking in our approach, so as to select appropriate carers
and match them with the right youngsters.
This shouldn’t deter prospective carers, though, because we
support them and their significant others throughout the assessment
process and provide the necessary skills training that can even lead
to professional qualification. Plus there is always the option to
opt out if circumstances alter or there’s simply a change of heart.
Fostering is crucial to the social health of our region and the
future of many of our disadvantaged young people. So we welcome those who are prepared to consider
this challenging and rewarding role.” said Tahir.
Prospective carers should apply initially to Perpetual Fostering, 31
Chorley New Road, Bolton BL1 4QR, tel 01204 364 666,
email.
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