Foster Care Fortnight: The power of relationships - helping children in care learn to trust and thrive

In this heartfelt conversation for Foster Care Fortnight, foster carer Paul Calder shares powerful stories that highlight the importance of consistent, compassionate relationships in helping children in care learn to trust and thrive. Through practical examples and emotional turning points, Paul emphasises how small, everyday actions can have lasting impacts on a young person’s sense of belonging and self-worth.

Why these legal guides are in every starter pack

Jo Francis introduces two of our essential short legal guides, Fostering Now and Adoption Now. The guides are designed to help social work professionals quickly access the legislation, standards, and guidance they need. Created with busy practitioners in mind, these practical, time-saving resources are ideal for anyone working in fostering or adoption.

Policy developments in the children’s sector

As the government rolls out its policy agenda, staying informed is crucial for our members. We have written a brief overview of the most recent developments to help you stay up to date.

Harnessing personal judgement for effective impact as a Panel Chair

Most of us would say we’re not biased and that we always look at situations fairly and without prejudice, but it’s this misguided bias that adversely impacts decisionmaking. The research of Dr Arlene Weekes proves that utilising the ‘Effective use of Personal and Professional Judgement’ (EPPJ) framework to increase personal awareness has a positive impact on professional effectiveness, particularly for panel chairs.

Changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

The Government have announced this week that there will be changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. Whilst the commitment to sustain the fund for 2025-26 announced earlier this month was welcome, it is disappointing to see that as more children are coming forward, their access is being further limited.

Re-thinking domestic abuse in child protection: A call for change

At a recent Quality Circle meeting, chaired by Gemma Taylor KC and featuring Professor Brid Featherstone, over 160 participants came together to explore ways to improve how child protection systems address domestic abuse. In this summary, Kinship Consultant Clare Seth shares key findings, lessons, challenges and actions from the discussion.