Foster Care in the UK

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Give the children a home

LIAM KENNEDY meets foster care expert, Philip Watson, to find out how the city’s vulnerable children are coping

An expert in foster care believes that the difficulties COVID-19 has caused within families will see even more children finding their way into care services. Philip Watson, who recruits foster carers for Liverpool City Council, said: “The pandemic has caused tension in more homes, which is going to cause more kids to go into care. “It has increased levels of poor mental health, substance abuse and domestic abuse which means more children are living in difficult domestic circumstances.” Barnardo’s, one of the UKs largest fostering agencies, declared a state of emergency as the rise in foster referrals increased by 44% during the pandemic, with the figure increasing to 2,349 between March 1 and 23 April, compared with 1,629 for the same period last year. Even more worryingly is that over this same period the number of people enquiring about looking to become foster parents for the charity fell from 302 to 161, which is a 47 per cent drop, meaning hundreds of children who have been referred to the agency will not be placed with a family. Mr. Watson said that problems within families will become more apparent now that schools have reopened “What we will see with schools now reopening is a lot more children going into foster care because schools and nurseries will be able to report if a child looks particularly anxious or not fed properly.” This comes after new restrictions in Merseyside were put in place which include a ban on mixing with any other households in any indoor setting. Which means further struggles for children currently living in an unstable and unhappy family environment. Mr. Watson said: “Nowhere in the country has got enough foster carers and Liverpool is no exception. Everywhere needs more foster carers. One thing I can say is that the council is doing everything it can to increase the number of foster carers and if people are interested, they should contact the council.” Research carried out by the Independent Foster Carers’ Alliance (IFCA), which represents and campaigns on behalf of foster carers, conducted a survey with 600+ foster carers. The results found eighty per cent of people who answered the survey said they had not accessed extra financial support during lockdown from their local authority. “Me and my wife became foster carers 11 years ago, we know we’ve been blessed with a house and a spare room and great family and we just want to share it with other people.” The 50 year old went on to say: “For kids in care, the pandemic has been good for some of them because they have not had to go to school, they haven’t had to deal with a lot of changes which for some of them is favorable. But for many of them the lack of ‘normal’ routine, such as school time, what time they go to sleep and wake up etc. is very disorientating and during the pandemic they have not been able to have this routine to stick by.” Social distancing has also disrupted visits between foster children and their biological families, with

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these visits often being essential for maintaining family connections and preparing children and their families to reunite successfully.

This, along with the economic implications that millions of people across the country have faced during lockdown, like being put into furlough or just released from their job all together, has made it almost impossible for wannabe foster carers to look after a child in need.

Former University of Liverpool student Mr. Watson talked about his own personal experiences of being a foster carer during the pandemic.

He said: “The little kid who lives with us, he’s actually really enjoyed lockdown. He finds new situations and meeting new people quite difficult, he’d rather be at home where he feels safe, so actually for us personally it’s been ok. He has got something called attachment disorder, it means meeting new people and new situations is very, very stressful for them so sometimes not going to school is sometimes easier for them.”

The former teacher is urging for any potential foster carers to not be swayed by the fears of coronavirus.

He said: “If you’re just remotely interested or got a tiny bit of interest please get in contact with the council, we have regular zooms and virtual events and people should come along to one of them and they can find out more.”