Rochdale council has been unsuccessful in its High Court challenge of the findings of a critical report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) about the way they pay special guardians. The High Court concluded that the council’s policy was not in line with statutory guidance and principles established in previous court cases. The original […]
Foster Carers’ School Transport Costs Ruling
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has issued a warning to a local council that they should be providing financial help to foster carers to help pay for school transport costs. The LGSCO investigation found that the council had wrongly told a foster parent, who was caring for children that were at school further away than […]
Helping Children to Understand Why They Are in Care
The importance of ensuring that children and young people understand why they are in care is discussed in: a Community Care piece, Linda Briheim-Crookall of Coram Voice, offers tips for talking to children about past experiences and why they are in care. The Bright Spots research programme that Coram Voice works on with the University of […]
Care Leaver Local Offer Report and toolkit
Catch22’s National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum has released the Care Leaver Local Offer Report and toolkit, to support local authorities in raising the standard of provision across the country. The thematic report looks at: health and wellbeing; relationships; education and training; employment; accommodation; participation in society; ‘other’ groups of care leavers; finance and format/development of […]
Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published its Annual Report on access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The study examines access to specialist services, waiting times for treatment, and provision for the most vulnerable children in England, and is based on new data obtained through freedom of information (FOI) requests to mental […]
Meeting the Needs of BAME Children in Foster Care
Two articles this month examine the issue of the shortage of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) foster carers: BBC analysis of Ofsted figures show that two-thirds of councils in England have a shortage of BAME foster carers. 23% of children in foster care in England at 31 March 2019 came from a BAME background. In […]
Shortage of foster carers from BAME backgrounds
The BBC reports that analysis of Ofsted statistics for 2018/19, looking at local authorities that provide fostering services in England, shows that 99 of the 146 local authorities that provide fostering services had a shortage or undersupply of foster carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Further details are available here > […]
Online resource for teenagers in care and care leavers
IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. It is somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff! IMO was created by the Children’s Commissioner for England in collaboration with an advisory network of teens with care experience. If you […]
Fostering Siblings
By Martin Barrows My wife and I both come from large families. Between us we have 11 brothers and sisters. Many have their own children and grandchildren. Family get-togethers require regimental planning these days. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that much of our fostering lives over the past 10 years has revolved around […]
Voices writing competition
Coram Voice has launched a creative writing competition for children in care and care leavers who are 25 or under. The theme for Voices 2020 is ‘Dreams‘. The competition closes on 12 February 2020. Further details are available here > […]