Foster care is the main form of alternative care provided by health boards for children in need of care and protection who cannot remain in their own homes. Over 4,500 children are currently in the care of the health boards, of whom approximately 4,000 are in foster care. These figures show the critical importance of the foster care services in our child protection and welfare service. Families and family life are very important to all children and the opportunity to experience the qualities of family life is one of the main objectives of the national children's strategy. For those children who cannot be looked after in their own families and need to be provided with alternative care, foster care provides the best way to experience family life. The challenge for us is to provide an appropriate response for the children of this vulnerable group. This response must respect their rights to a childhood in a secure family environment in order that they may fulfil their potential in adulthood.
The importance the Government attaches to foster care was underlined by the publication in 2001 of the report of the working group on foster care, Foster Care: A Child-Centred Partnership. The report points the way forward to strengthening and developing the service and provides the guidelines to improve standards in foster care.
This report noted that the foster care allowance was not adequate to meet the needs of children in foster care and it recommended that the allowance be increased. In August 2001 the allowance was substantially increased, alleviating the need for foster parents to apply to health boards for every extra financial need of their foster child or children. Before August 2001 the allowance was €90.85 per week for a child under 12 years and €108.88 per week for a child of 12 years and over. The current rates of payment are €281.50 and €308.50 per week respectively.
In order to ensure the highest quality of care nationally, the report also recommended that national standards for foster care be established. This is one of the most significant recommendations in the report and I was delighted to launch these standards officially on 29 April this year.
The National Standards for Foster Care Committee was established in September 2001. The committee comprises representatives of the Department of Health and Children, the social services inspectorates in the Republic and in Northern Ireland, the health boards, the Irish Foster Care Association, the Irish Association of Social Workers and the Daughters of Charity. The wide-ranging consultation process, undertaken by the committee, played a vital part in the drafting process. This process enabled numerous groups and individuals with responsibility and an interest in foster care to make their views known. It ensured that the voices of everybody involved in foster care were heard, including the most important group – the children and young persons themselves.
The terms of reference of the committee were to develop national standards on policies, practices and procedures in consultation with key stakeholders of the service which should apply to foster care, in line with the recommendations of the report and focusing in particular on the need to improve the quality and consistency of services for children and young people in foster care, standards and practices related to foster carers and providing guidance to health boards on how they can effectively meet their statutory obligations. The national standards for foster care, therefore, comprise three sections dealing with standards relating to the children and young persons in foster care, the foster carers, and the health boards respectively.
The national standards aim to ensure that children and young persons in foster care are given the best possible care and are provided with the tools and knowledge to function fully in society as adults. The importance of this is highlighted in the fact that over half of the standards relate to children and young persons in foster care.
One of the main concerns of children in foster care is that they are anonymous – that they have no say in their future and that no one listens to their concerns. As the House is aware, giving children a voice is one of the primary goals of the national children's strategy. The standards for foster care aim to address this issue. Indeed, the first standard states, "Children and young people are provided with foster care services that promote a positive sense of identity for them."
The standards ensure that children and young persons are involved when decisions about their care are being made. Standard 3, concerning children's rights, notes: "Children and young people are treated with dignity, their privacy is respected, they make choices based on information provided to them in an age-appropriate manner, and have their views, including complaints, heard when decisions are made which affect them or the care they receive."
These standards aim to address the difficulties experienced by those in foster care and to break the cycle of children and young persons becoming "lost in the system". To this end, the standards assert that there should be a designated social worker for each child and young person in foster care; an assessment of the child's or young person's needs should be made prior to any placement or, in the case of emergencies, as soon as possible thereafter; and each child and young person in foster care should have a written care plan. The child or young person and his or her family should participate in the preparation of the care plan.
As well as ensuring that children and young persons in foster care are placed in a safe and positive environment where they are protected from abuse and neglect – standards 9 and 10 – the standards ensure that children and young persons in foster care receive the best of care regarding their health and education. The standards state that children in foster care should have their own medical cards and "prioritised access to medical, psychiatric, psychological, dental, ophthalmic, therapeutic and other specialist services and treatment when required". The standards also assert that "the educational needs of children and young people in foster care are given high priority and they are encouraged to attain their full potential. Education is understood to include the development of social and life skills."
After-care is recognised as being of the utmost importance in foster care as it acts as a stepping-stone between leaving care and entering into the adult world. The standards state that all health boards should have a written policy on after-care provision that outlines all aspects of support and entitlement for those leaving care.
Concerns have been raised over the care of young persons with a disability who reach the age of 18. The standards aim to address these concerns and note that "after-care planning for a young person with a disability involves consultation with the adult disability service in order to provide a seamless transition to that service for the young person on reaching adulthood."
Foster carers play a critically important role in the lives of children and young persons in care by providing a place in their homes at what must be a vulnerable time of the children's lives. The standards acknowledge the importance of foster carers and have developed standards aimed at providing them with support and training. The standards will also act to encourage and retain the services of existing foster carers who are currently undertaking such a valuable task.
Concerns have been raised recently over the length of waiting periods before assessments of foster carers are carried out. The standards state, "The assessment is completed within 16 weeks of their formal application unless more time is required. They are informed of the reasons for any extension and given a new completion date."
The standards provide criteria on the provision of supervision and support to foster carers. They note, "Approved foster carers are supervised by a professionally qualified social worker. This person known as the link worker, ensures that foster carers have access to the information, advice and professional support necessary to enable them to provide high quality care."
Implementation of the standards will enable the foster carers to carry out their role to the best of their ability by ensuring that they receive the necessary training. The standards state, "Foster carers' reviews include an appraisal of their training needs and this forms the basis of the training programme for the following year." Foster carers' knowledge of their role is constantly updated and reviewed as their training is ongoing. The implementation of the standards should ensure that foster carers will not feel isolated in their roles as carers. The supports outlined will also encourage the recruitment of much needed new foster carers.
The standards will ensure that health boards have effective policies and plans in place to promote the provision of high quality foster care for those who require it, and that effective structures are in place for the management and monitoring of these services. They also provide guidelines to health boards on the provision of special foster care for children and young persons with serious behavioural difficulties. They state that in these cases, "The child's care plan identifies additional supports required for the placement and the health board ensures that these are provided." It is anticipated that this form of foster care would assist in the care of those children who may require a step-down service from secure or high support placements.
The standards aim to make the foster care service more accountable and transparent. Copies of the health boards' plans and policies should be available on request to all interested parties and state that in regard to representations and complaints, "Health boards have policies and procedures designed to ensure that children and young people, their families, foster carers and others with a bona fide interest in their welfare can make effective representations, including complaints, about any aspect of the fostering service, whether provided directly by a health board or by a non-statutory agency."
I am confident that these standards will serve to improve the quality and standards of foster care in Ireland. They will ensure that the standards of practice applied in looking after children in care and in supervising and supporting foster carers are of a consistent and high level.
The Children's Book about Foster Care, which is aimed at younger children in foster care, was launched along with the national standards for foster care. I am glad we have acknowledged the need for children in foster care to understand and know their rights and have a say in matters affecting them. We must not forget that providing these children with information and listening to their views will add greatly to all our understanding of what needs to be done to improve the quality of our foster care services. I hope that we will be in a position to develop similar children's versions in respect of the standards for children's residential care in the near future.
I recently launched Counting on Foster Care, a study published by the Northern Area Health Board. I was heartened by many of the findings of that study, especially the range of motives of foster carers that encompassed altruism and personal aspirations. I was pleased to see that most carers surveyed found the experience of fostering enjoyable and that any concerns they had prior to fostering had been alleviated. The indications are that there are significant benefits to be derived from the fostering experience, for both the children and foster carer families. This provides us with valuable information for the future recruitment of foster carers, with fostering being promoted as having something to offer not only to the children in care but to the foster family themselves.
The study also highlighted areas of concern in the foster care service such as the challenges inherent in caring for older children, foster carers' difficulty in gaining access to information and difficulty with agency service provision and delivery. I am confident that the national standards for foster care will go a long way to alleviating these difficulties and do much to improve the quality of the foster care service.
The Counting on Foster Care study also indicated that in February 2001, up to 40% of foster care placements in the eastern region were with relatives. This is considerably higher than the percentage of relative placement providers in England and Scotland. It is a welcome finding because research has shown consistently positive outcomes for children fostered with relatives. The National Standards for Foster Care Committee paid particular attention to the unique requirements of relative foster carers and the children in their care when drafting the national standards.
Many more foster carers are required. The health boards undertake local initiatives on an on-going basis to recruit foster carers. In 2002 over 300 new foster carers were recruited nationally. However, more work needs to be done to attract people to the area of foster care. In view of this, the standards emphasise the importance of recruitment strategies. Also highlighted is the importance of health boards responding promptly to fostering enquiries. Health boards are also encouraged, as mentioned previously, to undertake assessments of foster carers within a certain time limit. These measures will go a long way to ensuring that foster care applicants are not lost due to time delays in assessments or failure to respond promptly at the initial querying stage.
Last March I obtained approval from the Government to begin a wide-ranging consultation on adoption legislation. I have been aware for some time that the existing legislation is out of date and cumbersome and I am delighted to have an opportunity to consult with all interested parties with a view to making significant improvements. One of the issues in which I am interested is the adoption of children in long-term foster care. At present only a small proportion of these children are adopted. I am keen to ensure that where adoption is the best option for children in long-term foster care, everything possible is done to facilitate their adoption.
This will be a short and highly focused consultation process, which I intend will be finalised in the summer. A working document, which is being developed by an independent legal expert, will set out a number of issues for consideration and will soon be published. Written submissions will be invited from all interested parties and this will followed by an oral consultation. I hope this will result in workable proposals which I can bring to Government and lead to a new, modern and appropriate legislative framework for adoption focusing on the best interests of all children.
The report of the working group on foster care states:
The successful provision of a high quality service for foster children requires a partnership approach on the part of all those involved in the provision of the service. It also requires maintaining and constantly striving to improve the standards in relation to the delivery of services.
The national standards for foster care will enable us to achieve this goal.
I am pleased that already this year, the difficulties encountered with the foster care allowance have been resolved and that the national standards for foster care are now being launched. I am conscious, however, that more work remains to be done. Our attention must now become focused on ensuring that these national standards for foster care are met and on implementing fully the other recommendations of the working group's report on foster care.
I am fully confident that the national standards for foster care will serve as a basis for consistently promoting quality of care in the foster care services. It is against these standards that inspectors will form judgments about the quality the services. They should also provide useful and constructive guidelines for health boards and foster carers alike, as well as a basis for those in foster care and their families to judge the quality of the services they receive.