Media release archive

Media releases for England from 2007:

• The Fostering Network appoints advertising agency to help recruit more foster carers
  Leading charity, the Fostering Network has appointed My Agency to develop a promotional campaign to recruit more foster carers.

• The Fostering Network welcomes new Government Bill but care leavers will still lose out
  The needs of young people leaving the care system are not given sufficient priority in the Children and Young Persons Bill published today, Thursday 15 November, according to leading charity, the Fostering Network.

• Foster carers in England are subsidising the state, says new survey
  Too many foster carers are subsidising the state, according to a new survey launched today, 9 October, by leading charity the Fostering Network.

• Leading charities welcome new guidelines to protect children in care
  The Department for Children, Schools and Families have launched new guidelines to help protect vulnerable children in foster care. The guidelines have been produced after close consultation with two leading children’s charities, the Fostering Network and the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) and the CRB.

• White paper on children in care
  The Fostering Network has welcomed the publication of today's white paper on children in care, but warns that the exclusion of a national registration scheme, lack of plans to increase payments to foster carers and insufficient funding to implement proposals could leave thousands of children without the quality of care they need.
• Impact of the smoking ban on foster carers
  Leading charity the Fostering Network believes that all fostering services should move towards a position where children and young people in care are only placed in smoke-free homes.

• Statement on the discontinuation of Family Finder
  The Fostering Network has announced the discontinuation of Family Finder, the publication that helped find a foster home for children in care in England and Wales.

• Young people from care become inspectors of services
  A ground breaking new project, giving young people who have been in care a chance to inspect local authority children’s services will be launched tomorrow, Wednesday 6 June at the House of Commons.

• A step towards professional foster care: new training standards launched in England
  Speaking at today’s launch Robert Tapsfield, chief executive, the Fostering Network said: “The standards mark a significant step forward in the development of a skilled and professional foster care service. Strengthening the quality and consistency of the training for new foster carers will help improve the lives of the children they foster.

• New labour leader must prioritise children in care for social exclusion measures to work
  The needs of children in care must be given greater priority by the new Labour leader if measures to tackle social exclusion are to succeed, says leading charity the Fostering Network.

• Fifth of London's most vulnerable children forced to live 20 miles from home
  Over a fifth of foster children in London are placed at least 20 miles from home – a much higher proportion than the rest of the UK – because there are not enough foster carers to meet demand within the capital, says leading charity the Fostering Network.

• Thousand of East of Englands most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  Almost 1,000 foster children in the East of England are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Nearly 500 of East Midlands' most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  Nearly 500 foster children in the East Midlands are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Thousand of North East's most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  A thousand foster children in the North East are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Nearly 1,000 of North West's most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  Almost a thousand foster children in the North West are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Thousand of South East's most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  Almost a thousand foster children in the South East are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Many of South West's most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  Over 500 foster children in the South West are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.
• Thousand of West Midlands' most vulnerable children forced to live at least 20 miles from home
  A thousand foster children in the West Midlands are placed at least 20 miles from home, government figures reveal. These foster children have to travel for hours to visit friends and family. Many also face having their education disrupted as they are forced to move to a school closer to their foster family.

• Blair fails children in care
  The needs of children in care have been neglected and given insufficient attention by Tony Blair say leading charity, the Fostering Network.

• Statement from the Fostering Network on the foster carer Eunice Spry
  Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network said: "The case of foster carer Eunice Spry demonstrates the vulnerability of children living away from home and reinforces the need to ensure those in private foster care receive the services and protection that they are entitled to.

• Is the image of foster care responsible for recruitment crisis?
  Does the public perception of fostering hinder fostering services’ efforts to recruit and retain foster carers? With a national shortage of 10,000 foster carers, this is the question leading foster care figures from across the UK are gathering in London on 1 March to answer.

• Leading fostering charity awarded grant from the big lottery fund to help young people in foster care
  Leading fostering charity, the Fostering Network has today (Wednesday 17 January) been awarded a grant of £863,659 from the Big Lottery Fund to support a project that gives care experienced young people a ‘voice’ in society. Leading our Lives, a three-year project, will enable young people to influence the development of fostering services in the future.