Leading charity, the Fostering Network is to launch a major national campaign, Foster Care Fortnight on Monday 14 May to improve opportunities and outcomes for children in foster care throughout Wales.
To achieve this aim the Fostering Network hopes to raise public awareness of the need to recruit more foster carers, whilst also calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to support the professional work of foster carers in today’s society.
750 more foster carers are needed in Wales to provide homes to vulnerable children and Foster Care Fortnight, which runs until 27 May, will be asking people throughout Wales to think about helping to fill this gap. The current shortage of foster carers means some children are unnecessarily moved from home to home, forced to change schools and live long distances from friends and family.
Jane Butler, director of the Fostering Network Wales said:
"We are pleased that the Welsh Assembly has acknowledged that foster care is fast moving from a voluntary role to a professional job. It is important to recognise that skilled foster care can transform the lives of children and young people. A child from a disrupted background stands a much better chance of a successful future if they grow up in a stable, loving family with committed, professional foster carers to look after them.
"This Foster Care Fortnight we call upon the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities in Wales to ensure that foster carers receive adequate support, training and pay, in order to enable them to provide the highest levels of care. This is crucial if we are to attract and retain the additional skilled foster carers we need to raise the outcomes for children in public care across Wales.
"A broader pool of skilled foster carers will make it easier to find the right home for each child first time. Although lots of people have heard of fostering, most do not realise that they may be suitable or that there are many different types of fostering, from short-term placements that require one weekend a month to others that last for many years. People can choose to foster as a full-time career or combine fostering with another profession. As long as you have the space, skills, time and commitment, there is a type of foster care that could suit you."
To illustrate the diversity of those who foster, four faces of foster care have been selected from Wales to tell their stories and to appear in a specially commissioned exhibition, which will be on display at the Point, Cardiff Bay on Monday 14 May. The faces of foster care reflect the diverse range of ages, skills and backgrounds that are needed to care for the equally diverse children in care in Wales on any given day.
Face of foster care participant Linda Baldry, an experienced foster carer from Wales said:
"Being a foster carer requires you to be open minded, flexible and have a good sense of humour. I feel very lucky to have shared my life with the children I have fostered. I had a one-year-old arrive with cerebral palsy, and at that time he couldn’t even sit up without assistance. He’s four now, and goes horse riding, swimming and to gym club. He’s such a little star, and that all comes from him. It’s just such a privilege to share in his life.
"I’ve learned so much about myself through fostering and it has also benefited my own children, teaching them to share and also appreciate that there are many different sides to family life. I encourage anyone thinking about fostering to make those first steps to find out more."
The Fostering Network Wales is urging anyone interested in fostering to visit www.fostercarefortnight.co.uk, where stories and images of all the faces of foster care can be found.