children in foster care

[fostering]

Baby P, Victoria Climbie - There are so many articles in the news about children in care or who should be in care, but rarely do foster carers get asked for their views.
Does anyone know the best way to make changes within fostering agencies?
How can the views of foster carers be heard and registered?
When foster carers speak up against social workers or disagree for example about contact with birth parents they quickly discover that no placements are available. This leaves carers with no income and worse, nothing to do.
Foster carers are not paid, they have an allowance to cover expenses so they appear to have no rights as do other employees. Yet they are not free to move between agencies.
It may be the adverse coverage in the media but social workers rarely ask foster carers their opinion.
It is as if carers are "interfering" in the lives of the children they look after if they speak up on their behalf.
If the outcomes of children in care were better, then we would be moving in the right direction to stop the cycle of abuse and neglect.
A focus on looked after children and funding for social care would reduce neglect and abuse amongst our most vulnerable children in society.
Does anyone have some positive ideas on how to make changes?

WHat the frick does baby p have to do with this? Poor taste OP, and a garbled post to boot.

I would like to raise the profile of foster carers whose voices are rarely heard although they do an amazingly fantastic job looking after vulnerable chuildren.

To be honest - find someone who writes better than you do and support them.

Nice sentiments but rambling and no real points or facts to back up what you are saying. there is a very good fostering section on her already

Sorry that very ranty - needed a cup of coffee - this is the news section - mostly to talk about current stories not to ''raise the profile'' of things

Dude I assume you are an unemployed journo, given your poor writing style.

I don't actually agree with the points (I think) you are making and don't enjoy wasting my time providing copy for lazy journos, but there is a fostering section, maybe you could go and ask them over there and see whether anybody can be arsed to respond to you...

Thanks for the advice, found the fostering section now. Sorry to hear that you don't agree that foster carers do an important and worthwhile job. Social care hits the headlines very often actually, but not the bit about the hardwork foster carers do looking after vulnerable children.

Can write and cannt read - shame