Press releases
BAAF response to Green Paper on Looked After Children
Issued: 10 October 2006
This statement applies to England
BAAF welcomes the Green Paper on children in care that is being published today.
David Holmes, BAAF Chief Executive says: “This Green Paper is desperately important. It is a once in a generation opportunity to transform the life chances of children in care. It is our chance to turn many young lives around before it is too late. There will be much public debate and discussion over the next few months on what needs to change in our care system.
Top of the list should be improving foster care. The vast majority of children in care live in foster care and it needs to be of the highest quality. At present, we can’t recruit and retain enough foster carers and this has a disastrous impact on stability for some children in care.
We back any moves to ensure young people can stay with their foster carers longer, rather than moving on to live alone and unsupported. Making this a reality will make it even more vital that we recruit more carers and retain those we already have.
Foster carers tell us they often do not have a say in the plans made for a child in their care – this must change. And we must improve their status, training and support. Foster carers are as important to children’s lives as teachers and doctors and should be recognised as such.”
Other areas BAAF would like the government to focus on include:
- Treating children in care as individuals – with individual needs and individual hopes and dreams. This means improving decision-making and care planning for individual children.
- Improving the supply of high quality, stable placements for children in care – too many children are still moving too often.
- Supporting social workers in the same way as we support other key public sector workers – by respecting them for the work they do and by equipping them with the skills, resources and support they need to do a very challenging job.
- Getting the balance right in where the money is being spent in our care system. Every pound that is spent needs to be aimed directly at meeting the child’s long term needs. That expenditure needs rigorous monitoring so that we can see the difference that it is making.
Ends
Notes to Editor
For more information, please call BAAF press office on 020 7421 2632 or email daisy.oclee@baaf.org.uk. For out of hours enquiries, call the press office mobile on 07767 444 589.
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