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Local authorities do not need to consider all available placements for...
Local authorities do not have to consider all available placements for children in their care, a judge has ruled. In a judicial review brought by the National Association of Fostering Providers (NAFP)...
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Sharp rise in spending on special guardianship support
Special guardianship support spending by local authorities increased by 27% last year, government figures show. In total, councils in England spent £158.5 million on supporting people who had taken out...
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MPs call for urgent action on foetal alcohol spectrum disorder
MPs have highlighted the prevalence of children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in the adoption system and called for better training for social workers on the issue. In a report published today,...
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More money for adoption support as government sets out children’s services plans
The government will spend more money on supporting families with adopted children this year, but it will not proceed with plans to guarantee that children who have been trafficked are given an...
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How therapeutic parenting helped to relieve my anger and guilt
By Rosie Jefferies I recently came across this quote saying “the kids who need the most love ask for it in the most unloving of ways”. For me this summed everything up about my childhood. When I think...
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A fostering leadership board is needed to tackle issues in the sector
by Andy Elvin In November the National Association of Fostering Providers (NAFP), which largely represents commercial agencies, took three local authorities to court in a judicial review claiming their...
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Law will be changed to increase adoptions, government announces
The law will be fundamentally changed to prioritise permanence and therapeutic care in placement decisions as part of the government’s drive to increase the number of adoptions, education secretary...
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Education secretary’s focus on adoption is ‘insulting foster carers’
Education secretary Nicky Morgan has been accused of “insulting” foster carers by excessively focusing on adoption compared with other permanence options. Andy Elvin, chief executive of TACT Fostering...
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How will the government’s adoption reforms affect permanency decisions?
In a week not short on proclamations about reforms to children’s services, adoption retained its now customary place as a priority of the Conservative government. In (yet another) announcement, it...
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It’s hard to cheer the Adoption Support Fund when it ingrains such inequality
by Amanda Boorman It has been announced by the Department for Education that the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) will be continued and enhanced for a further four years. As an adopter this surely has to be...
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Social work hero: ‘She understands’
Landy Mainwood Smith, a social worker in East Sussex County Council’s looked-after children team, is this week’s social work hero. She was nominated by *Rose, one of the foster carers she works with,...
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Foster carers and children ‘prevented’ from keeping in contact after separation
Foster carers and children formerly in their care are often being prevented from, or not supported in, keeping in contact by fostering agencies and social workers, despite the majority of children in...
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Foster carer: ‘When you’re suddenly classed as not mattering it’s devastating’
Chrissy, now 17, was placed in foster care with Bev and Clive when she was 5 years old, but when she was 11 the placement broke down due to problems, such as throwing things and trashing the house,...
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Blindspot: why social workers don’t always support contact between children...
“It made all of my happy memories really sad, and I couldn’t deal with them. I had to avoid everything that had made me happy, so things like videos, songs, music. Christmas was tinged with a sadness...
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How do you manage a foster care placement?
A comprehensive resource to help social workers manage foster care placements to best meet the needs of children has been launched on Community Care Inform Children. The hub has both in-depth and...
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How social workers can keep children in contact with foster carers after...
by Sophie Boswell & Lynne Cudmore In the flurry of excitement before a child is moved to be adopted, the fact they are losing a parent figure seems to get overlooked. Our research showed that...
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Simpler guidance to help social workers evidence decisions in court launched
Social workers have been given simpler guidance to help them evidence decisions in court. The Social Work Evidence Template (SWET) has been updated by Cafcass and the Association of Directors of...
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Five approaches to children’s social care that helped Cheshire West and...
Ofsted recently rated Cheshire West and Chester as one of the top-performing children’s services in the country. While the council is rated good overall rather than outstanding – a feat no council has...
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Sally Donovan: adoption services should work with, not against, parents to...
By Sally Donovan Before parenting dominated my life, I worked in the aerospace industry. Aerospace, like nuclear and bio-tech, is a safety critical industry. If systems fail, people could die. For this...
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Family drug court delivers major savings by keeping families together, finds...
The London Family Drug and Alcohol Court’s work in 2014/15 will save the public purse £729,000 over five years primarily because fewer children will enter care, says a new report. The Better Courts...
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