Blogs
I regularly receive emails from young people who are in care, or adults who have been in care system. I would like to say that these people emailed me to say how positive their experiences had been but sadly that is not the case, far from it. The majority of care leavers who have emailed me felt that they’d had a bad experience in care: let down by the system, their social workers, and even the foster carers who looked after them, whom they felt simply didn’t care.
By Cathy Glass on July 1st, 2014
And breathe… or maybe not if you’re part of the team processing enquiries, doing home visits and more. But this is a good thing. Hopefully you’ve achieved your expectations and received enquiries from people who could become just the type of foster carers you need. If not, get in touch and tell me why.
By James Foyle on June 20th, 2014
World events are now so accessible and immediate – coming into our homes through live television and the internet (as well as radio and newspapers) – it is as well to remember the impact that seeing a disaster can have on our children. At one time, before live coverage of world events, the most shocking pictures we saw were stills of starving children in Africa, usually shown to raise money for famine relief, which were shocking enough. Now, through satellite television, we can witness disasters across the world as they unfold, with the effect that we are closer, more involved, than we ever used to be and they have greater impact and stress on us. Censoring of the news is usually left to the carer or parent.
By Cathy Glass on June 2nd, 2014
Although most of us would agree that feedback is an important source of learning, we often lack the time and space to truly establish a culture of constructive feedback giving. In the rush of day-to-day life, well intended comments can sometimes be misunderstood or misheard and lead us to become defensive rather than embrace them as an opportunity for recognition and learning.
By Martina Elter on May 30th, 2014
There seems to be no let-up in the pace of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight activity, typified by the excellent work you’re doing in your local communities. Our media monitoring systems are reporting over 700 pieces of coverage across the UK. Many of you have been in touch telling me of activities still to come, so we may hit and surpass the magical 1,000 mark!
By James Foyle on May 22nd, 2014
As the daughter of foster carers, Nicole Conlan has been part of a family who fosters for the past eight years. She shares her thoughts on what her experience has been…
By media on May 20th, 2014
What a start to this year’s Foster Care Fortnight. I’m thrilled to see so many of you using this year’s guess who fosters theme out and about, in the media and online.
By James Foyle on May 13th, 2014
Our oldest fostered child Emma is coming up to GCSEs and people ask us if she will go to university, but everything the school says goes over our head. How do we talk to her and advise her about the possibilities when we don’t know anything about university?
Mary and Jeff, mid Wales
By media on May 7th, 2014
As foster carers we often look after children who have been diagnosed with ADHD or exhibit the symptoms of this condition.
By Cathy Glass on May 1st, 2014
I start this month’s blog the day after April Fools’ Day, so rest assured that this month’s AKC blog is wind-up free… although I'm sure some will beg to differ!
By James Foyle on April 14th, 2014
