Children living in the care system are far more protected than in the past, which means that the children and young people are listened to, when before their voices may not have been heard. This positive move in child protection makes it more difficult for foster carers caring for children, such as if a young person make a false allegation of abuse, it will be investigated.
A complaint may involve a view about an FC's approach to the care of a fostered child or the way in that they respond to a child's needs or behavior. A foster carer could use bad language or inappropriate consequences for misbehaving children. Children's Social Services is directed by Safeguarding Children Boards which are by law set up by the Local Authority. The Safeguarding Boards have clear legally defined rules for investigating complaints by children and those people with a legitimate interest in the child's welfare.
The fostering agency the carer's work for also have their procedures for investigating a complaint made against this type of care giver. When a complaint is made, Social Services for children co-ordinate their processes with other professionals to see into the issue. Complaints will eventually involve feedback to the professional who made the complaint.
Children in a FC program do not do as well on average as their counterparts in school. They have lower grades and perform much worse on standardized tests. Some children become bitter and find themselves in trouble a lot of the time, even to the point of expulsion. This is not only hard on the child, but the family providing care for him.
Also, sometimes when a child who comes into adoptive care is older, they will remain quite adamant that they do not want to be adopted. The biological parents are unable to look after their children due to a physical or physiological disability. The children are placed in FC while continuing to have regular visits with their parents.
Statistics show that children who age-out rarely have anyone to turn to for advice or guidance once they reach the maximum FC age of 18. There are mentoring programs available to help, but these children may not know where to find such outreach programs. Many of these teens become parents themselves at an early age, and only about 46 percent of them actually graduate from high school.
After some investigation by the fostering agency, they may decide that the carer's need to develop some of their skills and recommend further training. They could change the approval range, for example, recommending that the carer's work with either younger or older children. Finally, the fostering agency may decide that they can no longer work with the FC's and take them through a process of de-registration.
About the Author:
No comments:
Post a Comment