Agency’s mission to find foster families

Oldham Works

A SADDLEWORTH business is at the heart of a national campaign to recruit fostering families.

Safehouses North, at Calf Hey Barn, Oldham Road, Denshaw, founded in 2001 by Louise King, is an independent fostering agency working in partnership with local authorities, including Oldham Council, to provide a range of placement provision for “looked after children” of which there some 60,000.

More than 8,200 more foster carers are required around the country to meet the current shortfall of homes for vulnerable children. There are currently around 37,000 foster families in England.

As the desperate need to fill this gap has become known, through the publication of a report published by the Fostering Network, more and more independent fostering agencies are working alongside local authorities to find carers.

Louise, who helped establish the Safehouses brand in Essex and Kent before returning North, said: “We are particularly eager to find families who are able to work with children from five to 16. In the past, foster carers were regarded as volunteers who provided care for children within their home and were generally given an allowance to cover the costs incurred.

“Over the last 30 years this situation has changed. There are now more children than ever living with foster carers and far fewer children being placed in children’s homes.

“Many of these children need looking after through no fault of their own and they deserve the opportunity to have an experience of normal family life to help them learn the life skills they will need as future parents themselves.”

Safehouses staff, as in most independent agencies, are drawn from local authority backgrounds in fostering and child protection.

The Denshaw office has a staff of 10 headed by Louise, from Uppermill, and fellow director Anne Palin, who lives in South Manchester.

The team manager is Hilary Clifford, from Stockport, and the team administrator is Marilyn Murphy, from Denshaw.

The team recruits, monitors, mentors and supports foster families — Safehouses North currently has 29 on its books, all of which have children in their care. All carers are encouraged to achieve NVQ level three in caring for children and young people, says Marilyn.

The process of finding suitable families and registering them is meticulous and costly and can take up to six months at a cost of more than £2,000 to the independent agency.

Families have to undergo a series of rigorous checks including criminal records, medicals, NSPCC assessments and training sessions.

Pointing out that Safehouses North has achieved an “outstanding” recommendation from Ofsted, Marilyn added: “By being recognised as essential colleagues and being paid accordingly, foster carers are at last being acknowledged as professionals in their own right.

“They are able to offer a range of specialist placements including respite breaks, short-term and assessment placements and long-term care to complement the work being done in-house by local authority foster carers.”

Looking forward to continued expansion of the service, Louise king concluded: “Foster care can be anything from full-time care for very damaged teenagers requiring daily contact with social workers, to short-term emergency cover for groups of siblings.

“Expectations of foster carers have risen sharply as their role has changed from volunteer to professional.

“Over the next year we hope to further develop our resources to help solve the present crisis in providing safe homes for vulnerable children.”

Anyone interested in more information should email inquiries@safehousesnorth.org.uk or call 08453 700247.