Did anyone else watch this program tonight? I could never be a foster carer - I'd never want to let them go. I'm all upset now :cry:

BBC Iplayer link (http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/v77vn/)

Yes poor kids all so mixed up because of what life has already dealt them, and that poor little boy all that he needed was to be safe and loved ...you're right it really is heartbreaking :(

I also kept wondering whether it was fair to the kids to be identified on the program.... will it not mess them up even more if they watch it, or for the little ones if they see it when they're older? Just makes me realise even more how very fortunate I am to have grown up with loving parents.

Couldn't do it. Admire those who do & pity those poor wee mites that are in they system due to no fault of their own

got me quite upset.

Yes and him who was kicking and punching the social workers car :O
How they do that job is beyond me!

Other than fostering very young children, I think the programme last night was unlikely to encourage anyone to take up fostering.

I agree, kimba. Although you can only blame the system and regulations for the teens being quite so badly behaved. The social worker's hands are tied. The carers should be empowered to go out there, find them and drag them back by the ears if necessary. Far too lenient.

I felt sorry for the family and the little boy, though. Such a shame that in their case some solution can't be found for him to stay there. :(

I thought the teenage daughters in the foster family were great. I looked into fostering a while ago and then decided to leave it until my daughter has gown up. Maybe I need to re-think that ...

It was awful.... that poor lad that went off on one I just wanted to grab him and hug him. He must be hurting inside so much. Poor little un.

I'd love to be able to do it but I also don't think I could watch them leave =0(

I believe that there are quite a lot of children that have been damaged by the "care" given by Social Services. It was quite obvious that all the kids wanted was to be with their own mums, but of course Social Services know best don't they!!! THEY are the ones who cause suffering to the children.

Okay so some parents may have gone off the rails - but a lot of the time all they need is support and help and NOT for kids to be taken off them which only exacerbates the situation. In a number of cases if help and support was given to the parents then a lot of these children could remain in the family home and not be taken into "care" and become "damaged" as is happening every day.

Apparently there are more children in "care" then there has ever been. I just wonder what the future holds when these children become adults and have kids of their own - will it be a vicious circle?

A lot of parents these days seem to need more support than ever but in my view instead of helping families it is much easier for Social Services to just take children away from the family home and place them in "care". Then they wonder why these children are "damaged" and become aggressive and frustrated when they aren't allowed to see their families.

I agree with missymoo73 that the teenage lad (Conner?) has a lot of anger inside him because (in my view anyway) he feels that the system has failed him.

Fostering these days of course is a "career" choice and therefore there can be a lot of "bad apples" in the cart which give fostering a bad name. I think the majority of foster carers do a wonderful and worthwhile job in helping these "cared for" children, but unfortunately there are a lot of foster carers out there who are only in it for the money and not for the benefit of the child.

As a child my parents failed me - but the 'care' system failed me much more.

Social Services aren't always the best intervention - but what's the alternative? Do nothing?

As a child my parents failed me - but the 'care' system failed me much more.

Social Services aren't always the best intervention - but what's the alternative? Do nothing?

I do believe we need some form of "care" but I don't think that the way Social Services go about it is necessarily the correct way.

In a lot of cases the entire family need support and help with parenting. I don't believe that ALL children should immediately be taken into care.

I am sure that Social Services do try and help a few families and it is inevitable that some children will have to go into the system, but I still feel that more could be done to help the WHOLE family and not just place a child into immediate care as is often the case.

I believe that there are quite a lot of children that have been damaged by the "care" given by Social Services. It was quite obvious that all the kids wanted was to be with their own mums, but of course Social Services know best don't they!!! THEY are the ones who cause suffering to the children.

Okay so some parents may have gone off the rails - but a lot of the time all they need is support and help and NOT for kids to be taken off them which only exacerbates the situation. In a number of cases if help and support was given to the parents then a lot of these children could remain in the family home and not be taken into "care" and become "damaged" as is happening every day.

Apparently there are more children in "care" then there has ever been. I just wonder what the future holds when these children become adults and have kids of their own - will it be a vicious circle?

A lot of parents these days seem to need more support than ever but in my view instead of helping families it is much easier for Social Services to just take children away from the family home and place them in "care". Then they wonder why these children are "damaged" and become aggressive and frustrated when they aren't allowed to see their families.

I agree with missymoo73 that the teenage lad (Conner?) has a lot of anger inside him because (in my view anyway) he feels that the system has failed him.

Fostering these days of course is a "career" choice and therefore there can be a lot of "bad apples" in the cart which give fostering a bad name. I think the majority of foster carers do a wonderful and worthwhile job in helping these "cared for" children, but unfortunately there are a lot of foster carers out there who are only in it for the money and not for the benefit of the child.

I agree that social services do not give adequate support to families to enable them to turn their families around. Usually the parents who have children removed have grown up in difficult circumstances themselves and never been parented so do not know how to be parents and are so messed up they cannot put their kids first. They need therapy to sort out their own issues before they can parent. They don't receive that help.

Then children are removed and in most cases either end up in the fostering system til their 18 or are adopted but in both cases they hardly ever receive any therapy to deal with the early trauma they have lived through. In many cases this leads to mixed up adults.

However, there are some parents who cannot, even with therapy, look after their kids - the ones who physically or sexually abuse their kids, definitely but some have severe emotional issues themselves and would need years of therapy to deal with their issues before they could even parent.

Also Social Services do not "just take children away" - I have been asked to take foster children, that social services are in court trying to get orders to remove them from their parents and if I could tell you the circumstances, yo would agree they should be removed, and the court have not allowed social services to remove the children and social services have to leave the children in circumstances they shouldn't be in and try and gather more evidence. Also often children are sent back to their parents after a short few weeks in foster care because of court orders and often they return back into foster care just a few weeks later because nothing has really changed at home.

In regard to your thoughts on foster care - I wish it was seen as a professional occupation - I had to foster with local social services for 2 years before I received any payment for myself (altho I did receive allowances to help with the children's expenses), our opinions are not taken into account and we are seen as volunteers! Only those who work for private agencies make any money out of it.

The only way forward is to start doing early intervention with families as soon as women with issues become pregnant and help them intensively - however with more cuts in services from March, most services will now become crisis intervention and not preventative.

I agree that social services do not give adequate support to families to enable them to turn their families around. Usually the parents who have children removed have grown up in difficult circumstances themselves and never been parented so do not know how to be parents and are so messed up they cannot put their kids first. They need therapy to sort out their own issues before they can parent. They don't receive that help.

Then children are removed and in most cases either end up in the fostering system til their 18 or are adopted but in both cases they hardly ever receive any therapy to deal with the early trauma they have lived through. In many cases this leads to mixed up adults.

However, there are some parents who cannot, even with therapy, look after their kids - the ones who physically or sexually abuse their kids, definitely but some have severe emotional issues themselves and would need years of therapy to deal with their issues before they could even parent.

Also Social Services do not "just take children away" - I have been asked to take foster children, that social services are in court trying to get orders to remove them from their parents and if I could tell you the circumstances, yo would agree they should be removed, and the court have not allowed social services to remove the children and social services have to leave the children in circumstances they shouldn't be in and try and gather more evidence. Also often children are sent back to their parents after a short few weeks in foster care because of court orders and often they return back into foster care just a few weeks later because nothing has really changed at home.

In regard to your thoughts on foster care - I wish it was seen as a professional occupation - I had to foster with local social services for 2 years before I received any payment for myself (altho I did receive allowances to help with the children's expenses), our opinions are not taken into account and we are seen as volunteers! Only those who work for private agencies make any money out of it.

The only way forward is to start doing early intervention with families as soon as women with issues become pregnant and help them intensively - however with more cuts in services from March, most services will now become crisis intervention and not preventative.


I do have personal experience of the ways of Social Services and I know for a fact that not all children taken into care are from parents who are "messed up" or have gone through "difficult" childhoods themselves.

I actually know of someone who had her children taken after having an accident with her youngest who nearly drowned in the bath. Social Services became involved and as a result the young mother had her three children instantly taken off her. The person in question was only 21, her boyfriend had left her with the children, she was isolated living in a village with no immediate close family living nearby. The only "family" she had was that of her boyfriend and his family. When her boyfriend left her to cope with the children he and his family refused to help her.

The girl's neighbours with whom she had had disagreements in the past told a pack of lies to social services and the worst thing is Social Services believe every word they said although there was never any proof of what they said.

The girl was then beaten up in her own home (instigated by the ex-boyfriend) and was forced out of her home. She ended up being taken to a hostel in another City where she was completely left on her own. Social Services ddn't want to know. They weren't interested in what devastation they had caused to her life by taking her children away. Appeals were made to get her help but there was nobody who would help her. She was just literally dumped and left on her own.

Unfortunately the young girl ended up homeless and began to drink heavily (luckily though not into drugs). She went through a really hard time mixing with the wrong people, ending up nearly getting stabbed and finally fleeing a violent relationship and ending up in a women's refuge (which actually was the turning point in her life).

She however became pregnant whilst in the violent relationship and had a boy but Social Services wouldn't even consider her a fit mother, even though technically she hadn't done anything wrong.

A few more years down the line and this same girl became pregnant again. By now now she is living in a one bedroomed flat with her partner (both unemployed). She still has a drink problem but not as serious as previously but to help herself she asked for help from her GP who got her to see an alchohol help service and to get counselling.

This however now goes against her and although Social Services were all in agreement that she could have her child, two weeks before she was due to give birth they suddenly decided that she couldn't and the baby would go into immediate care, which is what happened.

Anyway this couple have worked really hard with all the agencies involved in a bid to get their son back. They have done everything asked of them all within the timescales given (more than Social Services did for their part) and have managed not only to get their son back, they have had him taken off the "protection register" within a record short space of time but have also received an unofficial apology from social services as they have realised that what happened previously shouldn't have happened as it did.

So although a good result has been achieved this young girl's previous children had been adopted within a very short time. There was no reason really for these children to have been adopted, they could so easily have been in foster care until their mum was able to look after them properly again (with help and support). She is now in a much better position to look after the children both mentally and physically - and yet Social Services in less than 12 months had taken her children away and had them adopted without giving her any chance whatsoever. They were not prepared at the time to give her any help or support whatsoever.

She will never forget her other children they will always be a part of her life and she lives for the day that when they get older they will want to contact her. Until then she has her son to take care of and love. They are due to move into a new home soon and everything is looking good for them but it has all been done through their own determination and persistence.

I just wish Social Services would help families more, especially families with young children and not just think of these children as adoptive fodder to boost their adoption targets. Everyone knows it is much easier to adopt children under 5 than it is when they get older.

By the way job adverts for foster carers are advertised every week in our local paper which quotes a "wage" figure of £350 per week - not sure if this is for looking after older or younger children though but I can understand why some foster carers are in it "just for the money".

Sorry to have gone on but I just wanted to give my experience of dealing with social services and why I feel as strong as I do.

I have a lot of respect for you and people like yourself who do foster children because you are wanting to try and give them a better start in life and, yes, I agree more money should be given to the social care of children for preventative care rather than intervention. But like you say with all the cuts its likely that things could get far worse in the future.

The person you know obviously was messed up, violent relationships, alcohol dependency? not the place in which a mother who already has had issues would be allowed to raise her own child (as she has history with SS)

Anyway, I was "in care" as the term was then, it changed to "looked after" as I was leaving. My experience was very positive. Had SS not intervened for me when they did I fear for what I would have become.

Whilst watching the documentary last night it had a profound effect on me in a way that I cannot explain. There was nothing bad about what I saw, in fact the caring aspect I thought was good. I think it was how tragic it was and how much I saw myself in the same situation.

I was never badly behaved like those kids but I did know everything there was to know about what specific care orders were for and what "section" meant what and what could and couldn't be done on that section of the law. I was for actively involved in an advocacy and advice service called who cares? which I think is an amazing organisation.

I believe that SS have one of the most difficult jobs out there, and yes you are right the don't get it right all of the time but they try. It's not easy having a young person fall apart in your care, it's not easy knowing a child is being abused and being unable to help them, it's tough being physically assaulted while doing your job.

My heart broke for little connor, the little sausage just didn't know what was happening, he's only 4. As a mother myself I find this most distressing.

We looked at fostering and I feel i'd be very good at it with my own experiences, however I am not in a place to give up work just yet. My career is just taking off and I'm making my mark on the business world lol however, in the future when my girls are a older we will most def foster.

SS didn't fail me in fact they saved me in so many ways.

The person you know obviously was messed up, violent relationships, alcohol dependency? not the place in which a mother who already has had issues would be allowed to raise her own child (as she has history with SS)

Anyway, I was "in care" as the term was then, it changed to "looked after" as I was leaving. My experience was very positive. Had SS not intervened for me when they did I fear for what I would have become.

Whilst watching the documentary last night it had a profound effect on me in a way that I cannot explain. There was nothing bad about what I saw, in fact the caring aspect I thought was good. I think it was how tragic it was and how much I saw myself in the same situation.

I was never badly behaved like those kids but I did know everything there was to know about what specific care orders were for and what "section" meant what and what could and couldn't be done on that section of the law. I was for actively involved in an advocacy and advice service called who cares? which I think is an amazing organisation.

I believe that SS have one of the most difficult jobs out there, and yes you are right the don't get it right all of the time but they try. It's not easy having a young person fall apart in your care, it's not easy knowing a child is being abused and being unable to help them, it's tough being physically assaulted while doing your job.

My heart broke for little connor, the little sausage just didn't know what was happening, he's only 4. As a mother myself I find this most distressing.

We looked at fostering and I feel i'd be very good at it with my own experiences, however I am not in a place to give up work just yet. My career is just taking off and I'm making my mark on the business world lol however, in the future when my girls are a older we will most def foster.

SS didn't fail me in fact they saved me in so many ways.


Can I just clarify please that her alcholol dependency only emerged AFTER she had her children taken away. Up until then she had hardly drunk at all - only on social occasions. She ended up in a violent relationship due to her vulnerability at that time and people (men!) taking advantage of her. This all happened during the period when she ended up in a hostel in a City she didn't know and entirely on her own. She did however get herself out of the violent situation herself by going to the police who put her into the refuge, which like I said previously was the real turning point for her.

If you were to see the girl now you wouldn't believe that it was the same person. She has totally changed her life around is in a loving relationship is doing a college course and has her lovely son.

As I have said previously I don't envy SS their job - they do have a tough time. At times they can't do right for doing wrong. However, I still feel that there should be more help for the parents - not all of them are terrible people, sometimes accidents and circumstances occur which put them and the extended families into a situation they are totally alien to and when there is no-one out there who you can get help from things are so difficult and frustrating. It is at these times that the SS do become "the bad guy".

This time of course things are different. Knowing the system and how it works does help a great deal but like anything else going into the unknown is quite scary and I do believe that SS have on this occassion done their very best to help this couple and for them to keep their son.

Luckily this girl has come out of it quite unscathed in a fashion - she could have ended up in a far worse situation but her determination to better herself has won in the end and I have to congratulate her.

I suppose in a way she is a success story for SS. As I mentioned previously her case is the first one apparently where a child has been taken off "the register" in less than a year and this is due to her own determination plus her and all the agencies involved all working together which can only be a good thing!

I do believe we need some form of "care" but I don't think that the way Social Services go about it is necessarily the correct way.

In a lot of cases the entire family need support and help with parenting. I don't believe that ALL children should immediately be taken into care.

I am sure that Social Services do try and help a few families and it is inevitable that some children will have to go into the system, but I still feel that more could be done to help the WHOLE family and not just place a child into immediate care as is often the case.
:huh: But by no means are "ALL children ...immediately be taken into care" did you somehow miss for example the cases of Baby P and others who weren't taken into care and died at the hands of their parents?

Social workers working in child protection have an incredibly difficult job and face a barrage of criticism both when they take children into care and when they don't.

:huh: But by no means are "ALL children ...immediately be taken into care" did you somehow miss for example the cases of Baby P and others who weren't taken into care and died at the hands of their parents?

Social workers working in child protection have an incredibly difficult job and face a barrage of criticism both when they take children into care and when they don't.

No I didn't miss the examples of cases such as Baby P and the other cases that have been highlighted in the news - but the difference between these cases and the one I have highlighted is that these cases were all previously known to social services and were already under "their care".

The "case" I am talking about are children who through one accident were whisked off immediately by social services (the same day!) and a young mother who was in total shock anyway was left on her own with no immediate family close by or any support whatsoever to help her. The social worker involved just wasn't interested at all in this young girl and did absolutely nothing to help her get through the trauma of losing her children.

As I have said previously I totally agree that social workers have an unenviable job and it is must be so difficult at times to get the right balance and I do appreciate that the welfare of all children must come first.

But the thing is in this person's case her current social workers who are now involved with her and have been absolutely fantastic may I add have actually told her that the social worker involved in the initial case hadn't actually followed the correct procedure. The social worker however, after an internal investigation, ended up being moved to Devon - pity the people in Devon!!.

And going back to the programme I just felt so sorry for the young lad who obviously just wanted his mum. No matter what she was doing to her life all he wanted was to be able to see his mum whenever he wanted and was being refused. Is there any wonder that he gets so angry - he is hurting so much inside and confused I would imagine especially as his mum has re-married and has now got another child in her care which social services seem quite happy about.

yes she was alcohol dependant after the removal of her first lot of children but is it any wonder they removed the next one? then for her to go on and have another after that means that social services would be involved and rightly so!

However, I honestly don't believe in my heart that SS would just remove a child from their mothers care without any reason, without a court order to do so (which you need reason to get!)

My opinion which you will disagree with which is fine.

In regards to the programme I've recommended a fair few people watch it as it had such an effect on me.

It was a great programme and I really felt for the kids and carers.... I just want to love & help them all!

I work with children.

Anyone who thinks that children are removed from their parents at the drop of a hat on a social workers say so is very seriously misguided.

As far as most my colleagues are concerned, social workers try far too long to support hopeless parents at the expense of their children.

No I didn't miss the examples of cases such as Baby P and the other cases that have been highlighted in the news - but the difference between these cases and the one I have highlighted is that these cases were all previously known to social services and were already under "their care".

The "case" I am talking about are children who through one accident were whisked off immediately by social services (the same day!) and a young mother who was in total shock anyway was left on her own with no immediate family close by or any support whatsoever to help her. The social worker involved just wasn't interested at all in this young girl and did absolutely nothing to help her get through the trauma of losing her children.

As I have said previously I totally agree that social workers have an unenviable job and it is must be so difficult at times to get the right balance and I do appreciate that the welfare of all children must come first.

But the thing is in this person's case her current social workers who are now involved with her and have been absolutely fantastic may I add have actually told her that the social worker involved in the initial case hadn't actually followed the correct procedure. The social worker however, after an internal investigation, ended up being moved to Devon - pity the people in Devon!!.

And going back to the programme I just felt so sorry for the young lad who obviously just wanted his mum. No matter what she was doing to her life all he wanted was to be able to see his mum whenever he wanted and was being refused. Is there any wonder that he gets so angry - he is hurting so much inside and confused I would imagine especially as his mum has re-married and has now got another child in her care which social services seem quite happy about.
Great so you are damning all social service departments upon a very partial understanding of a single case which even you acknowledge is atypical :roll:

Furthermore whilst I obviously have no direct knowledge of the specific case you're talking about but I do have a close friend who through her work as a primary school teacher has been called numerous times to give evidence concerning at risk children and they are anything but whisked off into care after a single accident, in fact my friend often complained how loathe social services were to take children from neglectful and malicious parents. She often said one of the saddest parts of her job is teaching lovely really bright young children who are ahead of their peers and knowing that thanks to the indifference, incompetence and cruelty of their parents by the time they leave primary school they will have been ground down, left behind by their peers and facing bleak lives.

Which is the issue that I have with people saying ss are the enemy, they so aren't and this is coming from someone (me) who has been through the system.

I believe that there are quite a lot of children that have been damaged by the "care" given by Social Services. It was quite obvious that all the kids wanted was to be with their own mums, but of course Social Services know best don't they!!! THEY are the ones who cause suffering to the children.
That looked like an imbalanced view (or an induced reaction based on a personal event) when I first read it.

A few posts down confirms this...


I actually know of someone who had her children taken after having an accident with her youngest who nearly drowned in the bath. Social Services became involved and as a result the young mother had her three children instantly taken off her. The person in question was only 21, her boyfriend had left her with the children, she was isolated living in a village with no immediate close family living nearby. The only "family" she had was that of her boyfriend and his family. When her boyfriend left her to cope with the children he and his family refused to help her.

The girl's neighbours with whom she had had disagreements in the past told a pack of lies to social services and the worst thing is Social Services believe every word they said although there was never any proof of what they said.

The girl was then beaten up in her own home (instigated by the ex-boyfriend) and was forced out of her home. She ended up being taken to a hostel in another City where she was completely left on her own. Social Services ddn't want to know. They weren't interested in what devastation they had caused to her life by taking her children away. Appeals were made to get her help but there was nobody who would help her. She was just literally dumped and left on her own.

Unfortunately the young girl ended up homeless and began to drink heavily (luckily though not into drugs). She went through a really hard time mixing with the wrong people, ending up nearly getting stabbed and finally fleeing a violent relationship and ending up in a women's refuge (which actually was the turning point in her life).

She however became pregnant whilst in the violent relationship and had a boy but Social Services wouldn't even consider her a fit mother, even though technically she hadn't done anything wrong.

A few more years down the line and this same girl became pregnant again. By now now she is living in a one bedroomed flat with her partner (both unemployed). She still has a drink problem but not as serious as previously but to help herself she asked for help from her GP who got her to see an alchohol help service and to get counselling.

This however now goes against her and although Social Services were all in agreement that she could have her child, two weeks before she was due to give birth they suddenly decided that she couldn't and the baby would go into immediate care, which is what happened.

Anyway this couple have worked really hard with all the agencies involved in a bid to get their son back. They have done everything asked of them all within the timescales given (more than Social Services did for their part) and have managed not only to get their son back, they have had him taken off the "protection register" within a record short space of time but have also received an unofficial apology from social services as they have realised that what happened previously shouldn't have happened as it did.

So although a good result has been achieved this young girl's previous children had been adopted within a very short time. There was no reason really for these children to have been adopted, they could so easily have been in foster care until their mum was able to look after them properly again (with help and support). She is now in a much better position to look after the children both mentally and physically - and yet Social Services in less than 12 months had taken her children away and had them adopted without giving her any chance whatsoever. They were not prepared at the time to give her any help or support whatsoever.

She will never forget her other children they will always be a part of her life and she lives for the day that when they get older they will want to contact her. Until then she has her son to take care of and love. They are due to move into a new home soon and everything is looking good for them but it has all been done through their own determination and persistence.

I just wish Social Services would help families more, especially families with young children and not just think of these children as adoptive fodder to boost their adoption targets. Everyone knows it is much easier to adopt children under 5 than it is when they get older.

By the way job adverts for foster carers are advertised every week in our local paper which quotes a "wage" figure of £350 per week - not sure if this is for looking after older or younger children though but I can understand why some foster carers are in it "just for the money".

Sorry to have gone on but I just wanted to give my experience of dealing with social services and why I feel as strong as I do.

I have a lot of respect for you and people like yourself who do foster children because you are wanting to try and give them a better start in life and, yes, I agree more money should be given to the social care of children for preventative care rather than intervention. But like you say with all the cuts its likely that things could get far worse in the future.

What you have written in one post, probably had thousands of pages in SS terms.

So what you wrote...

THEY (social services) are the ones who cause suffering to the children

... is far too simplistic. And most probably incorrect.

Sorry I've rambled in my postings. But what I would like to say is that Social Services have actually admitted (not officially of course) how the Social Worker involved at that particular time had "gone against their own procedures". So unfortunately in the case of this young woman not only did she have the misfortune have a traumatic accident but to also unfortunately come across a Social Worker who appeared to take it into her own hands to place these children into care. Admittedly, not all blame can be attached to SS that the children were eventually adopted but unfortunately through other circumstances the young woman's life escalated into another dimension. All I'm saying is that Social Services should have been there to help and guide her when it happened, to help her with the children. Incidentally another issue about this case which is unprecedented is the fact that these children were actually rushed through the courts and adopted within 12 months! - and that is a fact!!!

Oh and this was the first dealings with social services, they had never ever been involved with the young woman's or children's lives previous to the accident.

As I have said previously, which in my ramblings you may have missed, the Social Workers and all the other agencies who have been working with her recently cannot be faulted one little bit. They have done everything in their power to help this young woman and with a good result.

Things did happen in the past which have clouded my view of Social Services and it is taking a little time to actually trust them and actually believe what they say. Their actions can sometimes differ from what is voiced.

Anyway maybe enough has been said on this matter and as I have seriously gone off topic as it was actually about the Panorama programme and not Social Services I apologise.

Hi...

I never seen this program but i want to say that u should wait for some days because each program repeats after some days at some other time. I always wants to see this type of programs but I don't have enough time for them. So I want that If i couldn't see these programs then any other can see these and gives me its updates.

Thanks... :)

You can watch it on bbc iplayer

I work with Local Authority Foster Carers. I can never express quite strongly enough what an amazing job they do for the children in their care.

I've worked with Foster Carers for a number of years and have never met one who was 'in it for the money'. The example previously given of £350 per week is hardly a kings ransom. Bear in mind that Foster Carers look after children 24/7, then work that out to an hourly rate gives a grand total of just over £2 an hour. It is a 24/7 role - you never know if you will be called upon to sort out a teenager who is upset at 3am or comfort a crying baby through the night.

The £35o per week is for fostering agencies, where generally older, moure troubled children are placed. In the Local Authority foster carers at entry level will soon be paid - no longer seen as volunteers.

This is absolutely right! Foster Carers do more than look after a child in their home, they advocate for that child with a whole range of professionals from social workers, to health and education and more, deal with all manner of paperwork and often manager difficult behaviour from children. They are professionals and should get paid as professionals. Their primary motivation though is always about care of the child, if it is not this would soon be discovered during the detailed assessment process.

All that said every foster carer I know loves fostering. They take the bad with the good and say the good always outweighs the bad, they make a genuine difference to children's lives.

I'm not sure the Panorama programme really showed this. The teenage girl who at the end of the programme we were told by subtitle had settled really well into her foster placement. But hey that wouldn't have made such dramatic viewing. There was no balance of negative and positive and both sides exist in the care system. Poor documentary making by Panorama focused on drama not documenting objective reality.

We are currently going trying to go through the fostering assessment process, it takes sooooooooooo long, we applied bck in July, haven't been assigned an assessor yet, we're really good candidates with space, time, acres of very relevent experiece in working with very challenging and vulnerable children and families, our own children are almost grown up, i wouldn't mind if it took so long because of all the checks etc but this is just down to lack of staff and heavy demand.............

[QUOTE=amandakm;6804367]We are currently going trying to go through the fostering assessment process, it takes sooooooooooo long, we applied bck in July, haven't been assigned an assessor yet, we're really good candidates with space, time, acres of very relevent experiece in working with very challenging and vulnerable children and families, our own children are almost grown up, i wouldn't mind if it took so long because of all the checks etc but this is just down to lack of staff and heavy demand.............[/QUOT

Took us 2 yrs to be approved for that same reason - our friends gave up as it was taking so long which was a real shame :(