I am glad that the DfE are finally listening and I genuinely hope that the consultation leads to real tangible improvements which mean that I can confidently recommend fostering to others.
Jane
Yes I absolutely adore my family and my foster children enriched all of lives in ways that it's hard to put into words. But lets not pretend that I didn't have to be savvy and strong to survive the bullying and mistreatment to maintain my family.
I thought about this after our meeting. No mine is a fostering survival story. I was repeatedly bullied and threatened by social workers and senior managers over the years for daring to support my fellow foster carers and for advocating for children in care.
I was discussing this lack of honesty with the CEO of a large independent fostering agency a few months ago. He said that I was a fostering success story because of my own fostering family.
tempt people into a career carrying great risk to their physical and mental health but people have a good idea of what they're getting into. Fostering advertising isn't honest or realistic. " A spare room and a warm heart" "An empty nest" "£900 a week"
I paused for a moment before answering. Then I said no. After seeing so many lives destroyed how could I in good conscience tell someone else to take that risk? I responded to Nick that Armed forces advertising aims to
When Sky News realised the scale of the foster carer scandal we were all interviewed as part of their recent report.
As I stood outside Parliament being interviewed by Nick Martin he asked me a question "would you recommend fostering?"
I keep coming across posts on advertising campaigns for recruiting new foster carers.
I pause every time then think nope don't go there just keep scrolling.
There needs to be accountability and consequences for mistreatment and malpractice.
There needs to be reddress for everyone who has been wronged by way of a Public Inquiry.
The Department for Education and government ministers should have listened years ago. So many lives have been ruined and so many children have been wrongly removed from loving homes.
We need rights and protection.
I can only assume that these people are social workers and managers still desperate to silence us. Never going to happen.
We've had a few unpleasant and very aggressive messages and comments recently from people accusing us of not being a support service because we openly highlight the utterly appalling mistreatment foster carers are being subjected to all over the UK.
Thank you to everyone who answered the call for evidence and spoke to Sky News and thank you to Nick Martin for listening.
news.sky.com/video/foster...
It was a very effective impromptu role play which really made the DfE stop and think about why there's a retention crisis.
Join us at Westminster on 4th March when we will push ahead with our call for a public inquiry to fight for justice for everyone who has been put through this injustice.
I then explained to the Department of Education team that those were actual scenarios which we had dealt with at FosterSupport.
We then told him sorry the "professionals" have already made their substantiated decision and you're guilty, oh and there's no right of appeal. You have to be deregistered and referred to DBS because the allegation was substantiated.
The allegations included not making a child Christmas dinner and not celebrating another child's 4th birthday.
He had photos of both the Christmas dinner and the child celebrating their 4th birthday.
Then I told him that his supervising social worker was coming to tell him that there had been an investigation without his knowledge or input where a decision had been made.
We completely excluded him from the "professionals" meeting where we talked about him and decided that the allegation was substantiated.
🚨Department for Education employee found guilty.
Yesterday at the Department for Education I chaired an impromptu mock LADO investigation where we notified a DfE employee that he had an allegation against him.
Thanks Mark.
But I can tell you what it is.
It is the united voice of foster carers showing up together as one collective voice demanding to finally be heard.
Together we will do you proud and your truths will be heard.
Today we head to London.
Foster carers from 3 different organisations meeting with the DfE and Children's Minister.
It may well be tokenism. It may well be consultation box ticking in their minds. Who knows.
Our members will lead the drive for change through the input of their lived experience, knowledge and passion into the public inquiry and together we will seek justice for our peers who were harmed by a cowboy system with no checks and balances.
A full public inquiry would focus everyone's minds on why a workforce with zero rights and protection at the mercy of a public sector with zero accountability and consequences for misconduct has led to the foster carer retention crisis.
There are public sector workers who have never been held to account for their malpractice.
There are children who were wrongly ripped away who still have no idea why.
Efforts to improve things do not address these past tragedies.
After many years of supporting foster carers and advocating for change I personally feel that a public inquiry must happen regardless of engagement with Ministers and the DfE.
There are 1000s of ex foster carers out there who's lives were destroyed because they chose to give their time + love.
If you have any feedback or comments on the Department for Education consultations documents please let us know.
As our members know we have been invited to a meeting with the Department for Education and the Children's Minister. Optimism for real change isn't really on my radar though.
Foster carers in Kent please get in touch 9f you are affected by this £1.2 million cut to fostering services.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Meanwhile those of us who actually know because we're at the coal face supporting mistreated foster carers 24/7 fight on.
More importantly the evidence that the powers that be knew the real truth is there too.
Theyre going to have a lot of explaining to do at the public inquiry.