The Voice Family Matters Fostering Special

SPECIAL FEATURE › PAGE 19-24

MATTERS

g S n i p r e e c t i s a o l F

2019

INSIDE : Childrens Minister Nadhim Zahawi : speaks on diversity in fostering Fostering Network : Discusses the need for more foster carers IGWB : Foster carers union provides hope

Supported by:

20 | THE VOICE JUNE 6 - 12, 2019

FAMILY MATTERS

Fostering Special says: ‘We cannot fail our youngsters’ OVER THE years, The Voice has campaigned for more people from our community to come forward as foster parents.

The need for good foster parents remains as high as ever.

Separation from family is one of the most disruptive events that can occur in a child’s life.

And that is why this special fostering feature is so important.

Several studies have shown that black and minority ethnic (BAME) children and young people are over- represented in the care system in relation to the numbers of minority ethnic children in the general population.

According to recent figures 23 per cent of children in the care system are from BAME backgrounds despite forming only 21 per cent of children in the general population.

They form a large proportion of the thousands of children who are waiting to find a foster family.

And ideally one from the same ethnic or cultural background as they are.

Cultural identity is important for all children but it is especially important for BAME

children and young people. Looked-after children from BAME backgrounds have spoken about the need for support to connect with their cultural heritage and face the racism and discrimination they may face.

They are better able to do this if they have contact with other black people.

Sadly in many parts of the country there is an acute lack of foster parents and families from a similar ethnic or background as these children.

This gap can be catastrophic.

A lot of evidence has been gathered about the experiences of BAME young people who have left the care system to live with a foster or adoptive family from a different cultural background.

What can follow is a growing sense of alienation, difficulties with social and personal relationships, a decline in their mental health and contact with the criminal justice system.

There’s a saying in the black community that it takes a village to raise a child.

What better way to stay true to the meaning of this familiar saying by stepping forward to support the many young people who need help.

Maintaining a crucial sense of identity Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi explains why diversity is so important in fostering CULTURAL HERITAGE: Nadhim Zahawi says that foster children need to be matched with parents who can give them a safe, stable home

A

S AN IMMIGRANT in England, my family helped me to shape my sense of self.

I know better than most how important it is to have a clear sense of your own identity, cultural heritage and a feeling of belonging when you are growing up.

NEED There are currently 55,000 children and young people in foster care. Growing up away from your own families can create an acute need to know who you are and where you come from; particularly for those who have moved in and out of the care system and lost contact with family members.

Data shows children from non-white minority ethnic groups are slightly over-represented in the care system – 23 per cent of foster children are from nonwhite minority ethnic groups, compared to 21 per cent of children in the general population.

In comparison, of all foster parents approved in 2017-2018, 81 per cent were white and 14 per cent were from non-white minority ethnic groups.

When I meet children in foster care and ask what is important to them, consistently they tell me they want to feel normal and part of a family.

Sharing a common culture with their foster family often helps this sense of belonging.

What is crucial is that every child living in foster care is en-

“I am in awe of what our foster families do and cannot express more highly my respect for them” couraged to be proud of their identity and develop the emotional resilience they need to flourish as adults.

The current regulations make clear that children should be cared for in a way that recognises and respects their individual identity.

A child’s ethnicity, culture, religion and linguistic background are part of the matching process. But ethnicity is only one

factor when identifying the best foster family for a child.

Many children in foster care have experienced trauma and neglect – what they need is a compassionate, nurturing home environment to help them recover, so we need individuals and families who match that, who are committed to helping children reach their full potential.

HAPPY My ambition is for all children to experience safe, stable and happy homes, so this Government wants to help more people understand fostering, to encourage more people from all backgrounds and communities to come forward to foster.

Improving the diversity of foster parents will help provide strong, lasting placements that meet each individual child’s emotional, psychological and physical needs.

We are incredibly lucky to have such dedicated foster families who offer children and young people this kind of stable environment, whether those placements last a few weeks or years.

I am in awe of what our foster families do and cannot express more highly my respect for them and their tireless dedication.

CLASSIFIED

JUNE 6 - 12, 2019 THE VOICE | 21

Be our next fostering family Enfield Council foster carers go above and beyond to give children and young people a safe and secure home, making a big difference to their lives. We need to recruit more foster carers who can help bring a sense of family and belonging to vulnerable children and young people in their care. So please contact our fostering team today and help transform the life of a child or young person aged between 0 and 18 years.

If you want to become an Enfield Council foster carer: • you don’t need to own your home, but you do need to have a spare bedroom to foster a child over 3 years; • you must be a minimum of 21 years old but there is no upper age limit; • you can be single, married or in a civil partnership; • you’ll receive ongoing training and support including a dedicated supervising social worker.

Foster carers receive a weekly allowance for each child or young person placed with them, plus a weekly foster carer fee.

Membership is also paid to the Fostering Network which gives foster carers exclusive discounts on a variety of items including home insurance and days out with the family.

Sons and daughters of Enfield carers – Meriem, Japhet, Hadjer, Vashisht, Somaya and Sara Fostering involves all the family. Japhet, whose parents are new to fostering, said that he feels he can be someone his foster brother can relate to, while Vashisht and Sara both spoke fondly of the support network available to families and the enduring friendships they have made. Meanwhile sisters Meriem, Hadjer and Somaya are incredibly excited to have a young baby enter their home. If you think you can help transform children’s lives contact Enfield Council Fostering Service today – call 020 8379 2831 email fostering@enfield.gov.uk visit www.enfield.gov.uk/fostering

Make fostering for Enfield your goal for 2019 earn up to £450+* a week make good use of your spare bedroom receive ongoing training and 24-hour support help children in our care have a better future *Amount you earn can vary depending on your placement

Find out more about fostering Call or email us anytime with any questions you may have or drop in to one of our 2019 fostering information sessions: Enfield Council Fostering Service, Triangle House, 305-313 Green Lanes, Palmers Green N13 4YB

16

29

JUL

AUG

5pm-7pm

2pm-4pm

8

21

OCT

NOV

5pm-7pm

2pm-4pm

18

DEC

2pm-4pm

 020 8379 2831 Fostering in Enfield

 fostering@enfield.gov.uk @fosterenfield

www.enfield.gov.uk/fostering

22 | THE VOICE JUNE 6 - 12, 2019

FAMILY MATTERS

Fostering Special

A need for more carers A POSITIVE IMPACT: There are thousands of children who would benefit from the love and stability of a family home (photo: To The Moon And Back)

Whether you have room in your life for just one week or for many years, there will always be youngsters in need of a home – but what does fostering involve, and could you do it?

T

HOUSANDS OF new foster families are needed every year to care for children who cannot live with their

birth families.

There is always a need for more foster carers to replace those stopping fostering and grow the pool of foster carers altogether.

Without more foster families, some children will find themselves living a long way from school, family and friends, or being matched with a foster carer who might not have the right skills and experience to best meet their specific needs.

Foster carers come from a variety of backgrounds with different life experiences, skills and qualities to help meet the needs of each young person in foster care.

Currently, there is a particular need for foster carers who have the right skills and experience to care for teenagers and sibling groups.

Almost 1,500 children live separately from their siblings because a foster home can’t be found for them to be placed together.

A wider pool of foster carers with the right skills and qualities makes it more likely that the right homes can be found for children, giving them the best chance of a happy and stable childhood and a successful future.

Foster carers are as diverse as the children they look after, but what unites them all is a desire and ability to help and support children and young people in care to fulfil their potential.

Fostering can be challenging, but it is an immensely rewarding role.

By becoming a foster carer you can change children and young people’s lives – and you will also enrich your own

WHAT IS FOSTERING? In the UK, every 20 minutes a child comes into care in need of a foster family.

Every day there are about 65,000 children living with some 55,000 foster families.

Fostering offers children and young people a home when they are unable to live with their birth family.

There are many different types of fostering that foster carers can choose to specialise in; all come with challenges and rewards.

EMERGENCY

Emergency foster carers need to be prepared to take a child into their home at short notice, at any time of the day or night.

Children will usually need to stay for only a few days, while longer-term plans are being considered.

SHORT-TERM

This can mean anything from overnight stays to a period of several months.

Short-term foster carers provide a temporary place to stay until the child can return home to

“There is a particular need for carers who can look after foster children with complex needs” their own family or a longer-term fostering or adoption arrangement can be made.

LONG-TERM

Long-term fostering allows children to stay in a family where they can feel secure, while maintaining contact with their birth family.

There is a particular need for this type of foster care for teenagers and sibling groups.

SHORT-BREAK

This covers a variety of part-time care, including offering a break to the family of a child with disabilities or for a foster family.

A child could come and stay for anything from a few hours each week to a couple of weekends each month.

SPECIALIST SCHEMES

There is a wide range of specialist schemes which focus on working with children with particular needs.

These include parent and baby placements, therapeutic foster care and fostering young people on remand.

Offering sup-

port to the family of a child who is on the verge of coming into care family is another practice with the aim of preventing young people from entering the care system on a full-time basis.

Foster carers offer part-time care to children, so they and their family can have a break, before difficulties escalate to a point where they can no longer manage.

WHO NEEDS TO BE FOSTERED?

Children of all ages and backgrounds come into care requiring the nurture and support of a foster family.

Whether it is for one night, a few weeks, or many years, it’s important to have enough foster families to look after these children and to meet each child’s individual needs.

Most of the children coming into care are over the age of 10, meaning that there is a high demand for foster carers with the skills and expertise to care for older children and teenagers.

There is also a particular need for foster carers who can look after children with complex needs and groups of brothers and sisters.

To ensure every child or young person is placed with the foster carer that can best cater for their particular needs, it is important to increase the number of foster carers.

This enables the placing authority to find the best possible foster family for every child and increases the likelihood of a successful match, allowing the child or young person to thrive and reach their full potential.

If you think you might have the skills and experience to become a foster carer visit couldyoufoster. org.uk

JUNE 6 - 12, 2019

FAMILY MATTERS

THE VOICE | 23

Fostering Special

‘Seeing them together is the most rewarding thing’ With more children than ever in need of homes, we hear from four special people who have made a positive difference to young people’s lives

O

VER THE last decade more and more children have been coming into care

across the UK. As the vast majority of children in care live with foster families, thousands of new foster carers are needed every year to replace those foster carers who are stopping fostering.

As well as this, more people who want to foster are needed to grow the pool of foster carers.

This means that children and young people coming into care are able to live with a foster carer whose skills and experience meet their individual needs.

CASE STUDIES Afia, long-term foster carer Afia has been a foster carer for 14 years, looking after almost 30 children. Along with her

husband, Kamuz, and her four sons, she is currently caring for a group of three children who have lived with them for the last eight years.

Afia and Kamruz have extended their home so that these children can remain living with them until they become adults.

Alongside the love, care and commitment she shows to the three siblings, Afia, pictured right, is the chair of Tower Hamlets Foster Carers’ Association and offers vital peer support to other foster carers.

Afia got into fostering because

she felt she had the time, the energy and the love to look after children who didn’t have the best start into life.

“Children need a home where they can feel loved and safe, where they can be a part of a family. I came into fostering to make a difference for children, but actually they have made a difference to my life.

To see them grow is such a wonderful thing.”

Corinne, foster carer to sibling groups Corinne has started fostering as a single carer in 2012 when she was only 26.

Her motivation to foster came from her parents who became foster carers when

Union offering carers hope A HELPING HAND: The IWGB Foster Care Workers Union helps give carers peace of mind

WE STARTED the IWGB Foster Care Workers Union two years ago to give foster care workers a voice that we have never had before. We have felt bullied, undervalued, and disposable.

This has now sparked a movement of foster care workers across the UK who are joining the union and fighting back against the mistreatment of foster care workers in Local Authorities and Independent Fostering Agencies.

Our members demand basic employment rights that would give us the protection we need to look after our children. At the IWGB we believe that all foster care workers need the protections from discrimination that only come with having ‘worker’ status.

Without this status, we regularly find members who face discrimination based on their sexuality, race and gender who have no recourse to protection from the law.

Our members also demand a central registration and licensing body that will mean our fitness to foster will be determined in a fair and independent way.

This will bring the much needed transparency and accountability, which are so lacking at the moment, and that is key to providing

the highest quality care to children. To win we must fight on many levels. Through establishing an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Foster Care Work in Westminster, we are working closely with MPs and Peers to pass our Foster Care Workers Bill into law.

By bringing cases to the Employment Tribunal we use strategic litigation to establish employment status for foster care workers. Most importantly, we organise and campaign locally to hold Local Authorities and Independent Fostering Agencies to account.

Our union is powered entirely by foster care workers fighting back on a local and national level.

To join the movement visit fcwu.org.uk or email Lydia at lydiahughes@iwgb.co.uk or call 0203 490 7530 to get involved.

Corinne was six years old. As a foster carer, the 33-year-old is determined to keep sibling groups together where possible and spares no effort to provide them with a loving and stable home.

When a sibling group of three, who she had looked after previously, needed to return to foster care, they begged their social worker to be able to move back in with Corinne.

She gladly welcomed them back into her home despite the fact that she was caring for another sibling group already.

“It can be daunting having a large sibling group but just seeing the children together is the most rewarding [thing] about fostering siblings.

“The best part about fostering is that you, as the foster carer, are the primary resource Continued on page 24

DETERMINED: Corinne aims to keep siblings together

24 | THE VOICE JUNE 6 - 12, 2019

Fostering Special

FAMILY MATTERS that will help the child develop and achieve milestones in their life. Seeing progression in children is an achievement for myself as well and you know you are actually doing something right in those young people’s lives.”

Corinne once fostered a child who had anxiety problems and never talked in a public setting.

Over several months the child developed confidence and with encouragement from Corinne took take part in their school performance in front of the whole school.

“This was a joyous moment and a huge achievement. Moments like these are ones that you always have the privilege to keep forever in your memory.”

COMMITTED: Kojo and Hannah eventually became full time carers after offering respite in 2008

Hannah and Kojo, foster carers to a boy with special needs Hannah and Kojo have been foster carers since 2008.

They started out as respite carers before eventually progressing into full-time carers.

For the last three years, they have been caring for a fouryear-old boy who has a very rare life-limiting condition.

Hannah says: “Meeting all of his daily needs can be challenging but his health has become stable and he is now at nursery.

“Buying his first school uniform was a particularly exciting milestone!”

As the little boy has grown he can no longer be carried safely upstairs, so Hannah now spends her nights with him in a bedroom on the ground floor.

This can be exhausting, but Hannah says that it’s her Christian faith that enables her to cope with any challenges that caring for fostered children may bring.

The couple is now planning on moving to a home that provides space for the boy’s necessary equipment, hoists and wheelchairs.

Meena, foster carer to a teenager Meena is a mother to two little children and together with her husband was approved as a foster carer in 2016.

Prior to her approval, she had worked for the government. Her fostering journey started when she came across a fostering vacancy online and so far, she has looked after two teenagers.

One is still living with her and will do so until they go off

to university; the other – an unaccompanied asylum seeker – has gone into independent living but they are still in touch.

Before Meena, pictured inset, became a foster carer, she has already welcomed her three step children into her home. “‘I didn’t have an easy childhood myself, but I came out the other side.

Looking after children, makes me feel like I can give something back through my learning curve and I know my experiences will help someone else.”

To Meena, fostering is about enriching a child’s life, making sure they experience a normal, safe and loving family life.

“It’s about giving them the confidence they need to go out there and take on the world.”

All of Meena’s dedication and care has enabled the young person staying with her to feel settled and secure.

“She calls us mum and dad now. But the best feeling is to know that she has started to look forward to post 18.” l