Foster carers given chance to shape fostering in Scotland

The Fostering Network has welcomed the inclusion of key fostering issues in the Scottish Government’s new consultation on the Children and Young People Bill.

The consultation, published yesterday by the Scottish Government, contains a range of questions on all aspects of the bill. These include questions on foster care, specifically a number of areas that the Fostering Network has been campaigning on, including placement limits, a national register, training qualifications for foster carers and a statutory minimum allowance.

The Fostering Network will be responding to the consultation, which is open until 25 September 2012, and is seeking the views of our members in Scotland. To this end, we are organising three focus groups to consult with foster carer members, in Fife on 30 August, Glasgow on 6 September and Orkney on 10 September.

Sara Lurie, director of the Fostering Network Scotland said, “We are delighted to see our campaigning activity having such a positive impact. The inclusion of allowances, registration and other key issues in this consultation is great news, and a real opportunity to have the ear of the Government in regards to foster care.

“We need your support to ensure that as many members of the Fostering Network as possible, both foster carers and fostering services, respond to this consultation and feed in their experience, particularly in the areas relating to foster care. In addition to responding directly, we would also hope to encourage members to respond within their local areas at local support and consultative groups.”

Visit our website to find out more about the focus groups or contact sarah.mcenhill@fostering.net to sign up for the focus groups. More detail will also be available in the next issue of Fostering in Scotland, which is going out to members in Scotland at the end of July.

The full document (and accompanying materials) can be found on the Scottish Government website.

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