Agenda item

[Lisa Whelan, Senior Social Work Manager to present report]

Lisa Whelan, Senior Social Work Manager presented the Annual Fostering Report and highlighted key points.

The Chair praised the report and noted that there was good public presence maintained online and physically to promote foster caring. The video promoting foster caring entitled ‘There was a Boy’ was of particular interest and it was noted that it was available on YouTube to view.

The Chair took the opportunity to welcome the foster carers that had attended the meeting with Vanessa Graham, Family Support Worker: Laura Bayliss, Rena Patel and Emma Jane, who were all currently fostering children and Councillor Martin Waite thanked them for the work they were doing for children in Wolverhampton.

In response to a query on how successful the Authority were in identifying cases of Private Fostering and providing appropriate support, it was stated that the Authority were wholly reliant on information being received on families engaged in such arrangements and this didn’t always occur.

The reasons behind families neglecting to inform the authority of these arrangements were thought to be that there could a perceived stigma attached to a child being taken into care or a family’s reluctance to involve a social worker, but the main factor was thought to be a general lack of awareness that private fostering needed to be reported in order to access available support.

It was noted that an annual report had been presented to the Safeguarding Board and an action plan around communications was in place to help raise this awareness, which involved a Private Fostering Week promotional event and working with schools and general practitioners, to try and reach out to anyone caring for a child.

It was asked of the foster carers what inspired them to become a foster carer and what barriers they faced:

·         Two of the foster carers already worked with children, including children with additional needs, and had been attracted to foster caring.

·         One carer had been hesitant at first as her concern was that a single person couldn’t become a carer but once it was discovered this wasn’t the case, she pursued that career path.

·         The experience was that the timescale of six months was an ideal length for the process to take as it gave time to prepare and ‘filtered’ out over time those who were unprepared for what foster caring really entailed.

·         Many challenges were identified, including challenging behaviour, however training and parent to parent support were available. Following a training course, one carer gained a better understanding of what was driving challenging behaviour and experienced a significant behavioural improvement as a result.

·         The Supervising Social Workers were reported to be very supportive in difficult situations and it was highlighted it was important to make it known they were available for help and to encourage carers to seek help when needed.

The Mockingbird Model was clarified as a foster caring initiative that had begun in the US but was now licensed for use in the UK. Clusters of foster homes known as constellations were formed offering members built-in respite and a community support network.

In response to a query from Councillor Hibbert on whether cultural considerations were taken into account when a family fostered a child from a different culture to their own, it was confirmed that training was provided in aspects such as culture, diet and hair care. Cultural awareness was built into the developmental training days and the link and match process took this into consideration also. Much of this training was aimed at care-givers, however children reaching the age of 12-13 were able to access the information directly. Councillors suggested that this age could be extended as even older children still needed some help with personal care.

Resolved:

1.    That the suggestion of the personal care element being extended to older children be considered.

2.    That the report be received and noted.