Q+A on fostering with Josh MacAlister, Minister for Children and Families

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi all,

We’re pleased to announce that next week we’ll be putting your questions on fostering to Josh MacAlister, Minister for Children and Families. Josh will be sitting down with Mumsnet HQer Matt, who has fostered.

Josh will be answering questions about fostering in England - on everything from foster carer recruitment and retention, to support for foster families, the care system more broadly, and the government’s plans for reform.

As ever, one question per user please, and keep it civil. We’ll be tight on time, so short, focused questions will help us get through more of them. And watch this space to hear the answers!

Thanks,
MNHQ

You recently said that fostering is not a job, it's not employment. The reaction from foster carers to that has been massively negative and angry. What did you mean when you said that?

If it's not a job, why are foster carers expected to do training, attend meetings, keep records, manage contact, follow care plans and be available in emergencies? Why does paying foster carers properly or giving them rights somehow threaten the idea of a loving family home? Teachers, nurses, therapists and social workers are paid and we don’t assume they care less.

Lots of carers don’t necessarily want to be council employees, but they do want sick pay, holiday pay, pensions, whistleblowing protection and proper rights.

I’m single and have considered fostering, but it looks like I'd have to give up my current job to fit around the child's needs. The salary doesn't seem anywhere near enough and there's no pension. How am I supposed to foster and also pay my mortgage or rent if I can’t work another job around fostering?

As a foster carer of over 6 years, I want to know, when will the children be finally be put first and who will make sure they are?? Parents take priority always, even when children are being severely traumatised over and over again by the system

And I know it's one question but at what point will foster carers be seen as the proffessionals they are - being included in important decisions and asked for our opinion about the children we care for, when will my 24/7 time be worth more than 96p per hour, why are private agencies allowed to operate costing the government twice as much as in house carers, when will you listen the unions and put in place what they are suggesting and I could go on and on

I love what I do, but the system isn't fit for purpose as it stands and it's the children and young people who are losing out

Hi Josh. Thanks for answering our questions (hopefully!)

I'm not a foster carer and not in a position to be right now but I have close friends who are and while they expect challenges, especially with older kids, it does seem that they are waiting a long time for mental health support for the children. Many of their foster children are dealing with trauma and loss but are subject to the same lengthy waiting lists as everyone else.

Would there be a possibility for considering a dedicated route for fostered children rather than leaving it up to carers to battle the waiting lists?

I’d like to ask about people who would have to give up work to foster but are them told they can’t rely on benefits or on the foster allowance to live- like some previous posters I genuinely don’t understand how these parents are expected to manage, particularly with younger children and sibling groups/ children with additional needs. Is there any way to tackle this in order to reduce the huge numbers of children waiting for their future families?

There are many carers including foster carers who experience assault from their disabled or challenged children. How can fostering disabled children be promoted across the board, and will there be an expansion of crucial.support for those very special carers who are usually not interested in criminalising children they care for?

Following on from that the rate of criminalising of children has to be linked to very weak understanding across the board of mental capacity legislation. How can the children's care sector be empowered to fully assess children's capacity to take criminal responsibility, accurately according to their specific needs, which are often hidden behind behaviour at the point of arrest? I'm thinking of the early identification of capacity issues.

Hi Josh. I'm considering getting involved in foster care - I've heard of an organisation called Now Foster - who do something called "Weekenders" where you can be accepted as a foster carer to provide one weekend per month's care for someone in foster care. This seems like a really good idea to me as it's a way for people who are interested in foster care to potentially try it out before they fully commit to doing it full time - is this something the Government is going to encourage more of?

Hi Josh, I'm a foster carer, and it's hard! Multiple organisations have shared that urgent action needs to be taken by the government to properly value foster carers before more foster carers are lost. What specifically do you think needs to be done to improve foster carer retention?

Can you foster even if you have a chronic illness? I’m disabled and not sure I’d be accepted so have never seriously looked into it

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your questions. You can see Matt's interview with the Minister here: https://www.mumsnet.com/news/mumsnets-matt-smith-puts-questions-on-fostering-to-minister-josh-macalister

Thanks,
MNHQ

well, that was a waste of time

No real answer, just going over again what he has said before

Foster carers are not shown respect as professionals, the system doesn't want to treat us in a way that would make our 'jobs' more worthwhile

And 30k for a carer? Very rare and only for the older, more damaged young people

He just proved he is never going to listen to real carers concerns