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.
The charity, which today Monday 14 May launches a major campaign Foster Care Fortnight to improve opportunities for those in foster care, believes the needs of children in the care system were neglected under Tony Blair and as a result initiatives to reduce social exclusion were weakened.
While the majority of children in care are now placed with foster families, insufficient resources have been invested in foster families.
Today foster carers are expected to take on more professional responsibilities, liaising with social workers, attending court hearings and meeting with birth parents but many are poorly paid and unsupported. This, says the Fostering Network, has led to a recruitment crisis with a national shortage of 10,000 foster carers in the UK.
As a result of this shortage some fostering services are forced to place children with families not trained to meet their specific needs, leading to an increased risk of placements breaking down. More than one in 10 pre-school children can expect three or more placement moves each year and half of 10-15 year olds will suffer the same fate. Furthermore, around one in five fostered children are placed more than 20 miles away from their home, far from friends and family and can be separated from siblings.
To improve outcomes for children in foster care, the Fostering Network is calling on the new Labour leader to introduce:
- A fee structure that pays foster carers for their work and skills and includes realistic retainers between placements.
- A framework for training foster carers that is in line with other occupations in the child care workforce.
- Support systems to ensure that foster carers and their families get the help they need to do their demanding job.
- Allowances to cover the day-to-day costs of caring for fostered children, set at a rate no less than the Fostering Network’s minimum recommended allowances to cover the full cost of fostering to carers.
- The Fostering Network argues that a shift policy is essential if opportunities are to be improved for the 70,000 children in the care system.
The latest government statistics clearly demonstrate the damning consequences of the underinvestment:
- One in every 10 children in care attained five good GCSEs in 2006, compared to more than half of all children. Less than five per cent of care leavers go on to university.
- Young women aged 15-17 who have been in care are three times more likely to become teenage mothers than others of their age.
- More than a quarter of adults in prison have spent time in care.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive, the Fostering Network, said:
"Sadly people who have been through the care system are grossly over-represented in our prisons and under-represented in universities. The educational performance of children in care has fallen behind those of all children. If the new Labour leader invests in services to meet the needs of children in care, this will have a dramatic effect on children’s lives and will bolster many of the government’s initiatives to tackle social exclusion.
"Tony Blair failed to recognise the vital role and contribution that foster carers make in today’s society. Despite raised expectations placed on foster cares by the Government they have continued to be treated as volunteers, receiving inadequate support, training and pay.
"I urge the next prime minister to commit to making a real difference to the lives of these forgotten children by becoming a good corporate parent to the country’s most vulnerable children."
The Foster care Fortnight campaign will aim to raise awareness of the needs of children in foster care and will attempt to address the recruitment crisis among foster carers. Foster Care Fortnight will call on the general public to think about helping a child in their community by becoming a foster carer. To find out more about the campaign visit www.fostercarefortnight.co.uk.