Increasing demand placed on child foster care services
15:30 - 07/06/2010
Increasing demand placed on child fos...
Recent research suggests that demands for foster care services are reaching such highs that over 40% of foster carers are looking after children with needs that lay outside of their area of expertise.
Government figures showed a 5% rise in the number of children being taken into care in the year 2008-9 and, while official figures for 2009-10 have yet to be published, they are expected to reveal a further increase.
A study conducted by the Fostering Network has found that 83% of local authorities saw an increase in the number of children needing foster care over the last year. The survey included 60 fostering services and 307 foster carers and found that over half of all councils reported that they struggled more than ever to place children with foster families.
There is a shortage of 10,000 foster care families across the UK and measures had been taken to recruit more foster carers and be more efficient in finding children suitable families, but these steps have now taken a backseat as services face the unparalleled rise in demand.
Robert Tapsfield, Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, said: “Children are being sent further away from their schools and friends, and sometimes to foster carers who don’t have the skills and experience to deal with the child’s specific needs.”
He went on to assert that fostering services “urgently need more people with the right skills and qualities to come forward to foster, and they need them now, so children don’t lose out.”
We can offer a wide range of courses for the childcare sector, to help aid the professional development of those working in child services, and to provide the knowledge and skills required to help children with specific needs.
Operations Director Perry Leeks, says: “There is no greater responsibility than caring for someone else’s child and it is important that people who work with children have the necessary skills to meet the particular child’s needs.
“We can offer a number of courses, from Paediatric First Aid and Manual Handling for Child Carers to more specialist training courses like Autism and Asperger Syndrome Awareness, Epilepsy Awareness and Equality and Diversity in Care training. We can also deliver Child Protection training, which will provide carers with an understanding of their responsibilities for safeguarding children and how to work safely with the protection of young persons in mind.”
To find out about any of our childcare training courses, please contact us today.
Government figures showed a 5% rise in the number of children being taken into care in the year 2008-9 and, while official figures for 2009-10 have yet to be published, they are expected to reveal a further increase.
A study conducted by the Fostering Network has found that 83% of local authorities saw an increase in the number of children needing foster care over the last year. The survey included 60 fostering services and 307 foster carers and found that over half of all councils reported that they struggled more than ever to place children with foster families.
There is a shortage of 10,000 foster care families across the UK and measures had been taken to recruit more foster carers and be more efficient in finding children suitable families, but these steps have now taken a backseat as services face the unparalleled rise in demand.
Robert Tapsfield, Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, said: “Children are being sent further away from their schools and friends, and sometimes to foster carers who don’t have the skills and experience to deal with the child’s specific needs.”
He went on to assert that fostering services “urgently need more people with the right skills and qualities to come forward to foster, and they need them now, so children don’t lose out.”
We can offer a wide range of courses for the childcare sector, to help aid the professional development of those working in child services, and to provide the knowledge and skills required to help children with specific needs.
Operations Director Perry Leeks, says: “There is no greater responsibility than caring for someone else’s child and it is important that people who work with children have the necessary skills to meet the particular child’s needs.
“We can offer a number of courses, from Paediatric First Aid and Manual Handling for Child Carers to more specialist training courses like Autism and Asperger Syndrome Awareness, Epilepsy Awareness and Equality and Diversity in Care training. We can also deliver Child Protection training, which will provide carers with an understanding of their responsibilities for safeguarding children and how to work safely with the protection of young persons in mind.”
To find out about any of our childcare training courses, please contact us today.
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