Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘State of emergency’ warning as charity calls for more help
Theheadof Barnardo’s says the region is facing a Covid-19-inspired foster care crisis with more children needing a home.
A children’s charity says foster care requirements have reached a “state of emergency” in the South East due to the Covid-19 outbreak. But the two councils in Kent which oversee fostering placements for youngsters, say there has been very little change on the demands for services. Barnardo’s reported an 89% increase from March 1 to April 23 compared to the same period in 2019 with 168 referrals made for foster care across the region compared to 89 last year. However, in Kent and Medway the demand was not as high.
Kent County Council (KCC) said there had been a decrease in foster placements in the same period with 73 in 2019 compared to just 57 this year – a fall of 22%.
The council said while there had been a “decrease in the number of referrals” for foster placements it also came when there had been an increase in the number of applications to become carers. Medway Council meanwhile reported 426 “looked-after children” in March and 439 in April compared to 426 and 421 for the same months a year ago.
Latest figures for Medway show 448 children are in foster care in the Towns. In December there were 421. Cllr Josie Iles, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for children’s services, said: “Throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic we have continued to support children and young people across Medway.
“We have not seen a significant increase in the number of requests for fostering placements during the pandemic.
“I would like to thank our foster carers, and connected carers, for continuing to support some of our most vulnerable children in these challenging times. We are committed to ensuring every child in Medway receives the best start in life.”
The authority has a Leaving Care service to help young people aged between 16 and 25 to offer advice on accommodation, mental health services and internet access through social media to keep in touch with vulnerable young people.
The picture in Kent is bucking the trend reported by Barnardo’s for the South East region as it said the number of referrals to the charity is almost doubling. Meanwhile, it said applications to the charity to become foster carers had fallen by nearly a third (31%) in the region from 61 to 42 in the past 12 months. Banardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “The coronavirus pandemic has hit vulnerable families the hardest, with many reaching crisis point.
“This has created a state of emergency, as more children than ever need a safe and loving foster family, while fewer adults are coming forward as potential foster carers.”
He added the charity helps provide support for its foster carers “every step of the way” to help hundreds of children “waiting to be placed”.
‘More children than ever need a safe and loving foster family’