The Independent Foster Carers Alliance (IFCA) is the first truly independent non profit and social enterprise organisation for foster carers, offering support, protection, education and training.
It is run by professionals who have extensive first hand knowledge of being foster carers, unique support in this industry. We are paid for by our membership and not by Local Authorities or Agencies. None of our Directors own other companies or have any conflict of interests in the fostering industry.
IFCA can therefore provide the first independent casework legal team and where necessary provide Alliance Support Workers to represent you, people who undertake this job role will be hand picked and by us to truly serve, represent and work with our members to deliver the right outcome and make sure everyone is accountable in allegations, concerns and complaints. Our Alliance Support Workers will be trained by us, have extensive first hand knowledge of foster care and are not social workers. Whilst we appreciate the work social workers do we do not feel they are best placed to provide independent support and protection for foster carers in allegations, concerns and complaints. Our caseworkers and Alliance Support Workers (ASW’s) will receive regular work and therapeutic supervision to ensure a high quality, robust and independent support for our members.
We are behind the bigger and longer term goals of an Independent Central licensing body and employment rights for foster carers, but will be also concentrating on lobbying and campaigning in Parliament for shorter more attainable goals such as duty of care, support and acknowledgement for foster carer’s mental health, correct information at point of placement, adequate holiday/respite entitlement and an overhaul of the allegations system.
Our education and training will concentrate on delivering quality standardised foster carer education to foster carers and the industry. We are currently working in partnership with university academics and colleagues to deliver new opportunities to existing foster carers and those entering the fostering workforce.
We will also be engaging in research to provide some much needed independent data to underpin our work bringing the foster carer workforce into the 21st century.
The Alliance Training Sessions will be designed to educate, empower and protect foster carers in their everyday working lives.
The first of these ‘Allegations: From the foster carers perspective’ will be rolled out very soon.
for more details: www.ifcalliance.co.uk