Comment: The Fostering Network report on allegations

Edwina Grant OBE, Chair of the ADCS Health, Care and Additional Needs Policy Committee, said:

“Foster carers provide loving, stable homes for thousands of children in care, and they should be valued, supported, and listened to as a key part of the team around the child. Children’s rights and their voices must also be at the heart of all we do. Our need for more foster carers who are willing to care for the children currently in our care continues to grow, it is therefore concerning that some of the foster carers surveyed had thought about stopping fostering, or would not recommend fostering to others, because of their experiences of the allegation process. There are cases where an allegation is made against a foster carer, and it is important to remember that a local authority has a responsibility to follow this up for the sake of the child and the carer. Ignoring an allegation could lead to children being unsafe or to carers having false and unresolved allegations on their record. This does not mean an automatic disruption of a placement and needs to be sensitive and proportionate to the circumstances. We recognise that this can be a particularly difficult and distressing time for all involved, and we want children and foster carers to feel well supported while allegations are investigated, and an outcome is reached. Local authorities are not in the business of destabilising the lives of children in care, or foster carers; there might be occasions that a foster placement is disrupted because of an allegation, or in more serious cases a child is permanently removed from the carer, but this is a last resort.”

Ends

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