Simply Fostering News November 2015 Duchess of Cambridge to attend charity event On 17th November, the Duchess of Cambridge will attend a charity event which celebrates the achievements of social workers, foster carers and young people. The Fostering Excellence Awards is an annual event organised by the charity The Fostering Network and is held in London
Simply Fostering News September 2015 Asylum – Refugee Crisis – Kent The rise in the number of refugees and children asylum seekers are putting social services in Kent under strain and struggling to cope. Numbers of young, unaccompanied minors have more than doubled in the last year as the migrant crisis escalates. The council has appealed
Foster Carers Same goal different directions! By Cathy Mayes Sometimes everyone needs to walk a little way in the other person’s shoes, and as foster carers, you know the situation I’m talking about. The child is in crisis. You are trying to manage the situation yet the social worker seems to be coming from a
Screen and Prevent Preventative services for Foster Carers A study by Cathrine Mihalopoulos and colleagues found that screening children who appeared inhibited at pre-school and offering their parents a focussed package to help them, prevented the children’s inhibition developing into anxiety. It made me wonder whether this screening and focussed preventative approach could also work
Foster children Brenda McLackland, Consultant Clinical Psychologist Balancing nurture and discipline Many times I’ve heard potential foster carers express their excitement at welcoming a child into their home, to love them and spoil them and to make up for their past difficulties. At this point I usually get a dreadful sinking feeling and manage to say
Are we getting the transitions right? I’d be interested to hear what both foster carers and adopters think about this question. There is usually a range of opinionsabout moving a child from foster care to adoption. These range from; do it quickly to avoid prolonging the upset to;providea more gradual and planned process where foster
Psychological input: stigma or status symbol I’m not immune to the stigma that still exists in coming to see a Clinical Psychologist but to me it now seems a bit last century. I wish as a society we could acknowledge that we all have a psychological or emotional life. It is normal to go through
Fostering new languages More than 300 different languages are spoken by children in schools in London, making it the most diverse city in the world. English is the most common language spoken but for more than a third of children it is not the language they will use or listen to at home. The most
Respite Fostering Pros and Cons Respite care is a service for families and children who are struggling and who need a break. This involves a child or children going to stay with foster carers or other care providers for a short time to help the parents rest and feel energised again. Respite care is also
Simply Fostering News April 2015 New Fostering Programme Leeds City Council has been chosen by the Fostering Network to overhaul the way in which it delivers foster care, by adopting a new programme called Mockingbird Family Model. This new approach follows a successful pilot scheme which has been based on a system from the US.
