Fostering in crisis

A report published recently by the Fostering Network, Clark, H. (2010). Bursting at the Seams, highlights the crisis in fostering preciptated by the unprecedented rise in the number of children in need of foster placement in the wake of the baby Peter Connolly case. BBC Newsnight, August 4 also reported on the issue. Charity Barnardos claimed today that govenment data shows that children in England and Wales can wait up to 65 weeks for court decisions on whether they should be permanantly taken into care, leaving children vunerable in family homes or in unstable temporary foster placements. the problem has been exacerbated by the husge rise in cases and the declining status of social workers which has seen courts call for more independant assessments, rather than trust the judgement of social workers involved on the ground. See Guardian August 9, 2010.