Fostering, adoption and looked after children
There are many reasons why children and young people cannot live
with their own families; we will provide services to these children
and young people who cannot stay with their own families.
Fostering and adoption
It is proven that children are more likely to thrive if brought
up in the love and security of a family environment. Foster
carers and adopters provide this environment and make a real
difference to the children in their care.
Whether it be for a few nights, months, or until young
people are ready to live independently, we need people to
provide a family for these children through fostering or
adoption.
We need people to come forward to be assessed as Foster
Carers and Adopters. If you have the time, patience and sense
of humour to care for children and young people, we would like to
hear from you. You can be married or single, young or old,
employed or unemployed, straight or gay, any race, any
creed.
You can make a real difference
Foster carers Liz and Alex (see family photo to the right) claim
"Fostering is the most challenging and yet the most rewarding
thing we have ever done. To make even the smallest
difference to the life of a child is the most amazing feeling.
Total job satisfaction".
Ryan, an adoptee, claims 
"Living in this family is really cool, because my mum
and dad are really nice and I know they love me".
Looked after children
The best place for children to be is with their families.
Sometimes, for a number of reasons, children are not able to live
with their families; we provide services in these cases. This
is called being 'looked after'. Where possible we try to keep
children in the same family together.The Every Child Matters:
Change for Children programme aims to improve outcomes for all
children. To date the outcomes achieved by looked-after children
have been unacceptably poor, and the government is committed to
addressing this disparity.
Every Child Matters -
Change for Children is the new approach to the well-being of
children and young people from birth to age 19.