The British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) has announced that it is taking part in The Care Inquiry, which it describes as a timely and important opportunity to consider how the care system is working for children in care (and for those on the edge of care). It is a chance to think together about recent trends, current challenges and opportunities and future strategy.
The Inquiry has a vital focus on the achievement of stability and a positive sense of identity and belonging for children in care and for those raised by family members as an alternative to care. It has the potential to make a significant contribution to our collective understanding of these issues, to build on recent, welcome reforms and to inform future policy development.
BAAF believes that every child has a right to loving and secure family relationships and that secure attachments to carers are essential to children’s mental health and psychological development. It believes that every effort should be made to enable children to live in their own birth families and kinship network, providing that this is consistent with the child’s welfare.
BAAF believes that where it is not in the best interests of children to live within their family of origin, an alternative family should be found which can provide continuous care, stability and life-long commitment. And it believes that children have a right to have their needs understood, assessed and reviewed so that where it is necessary for them to live away from home, their placements can be planned and their needs met.
Further reading:- http://www.baaf.org.uk/media/releases/launch-care-inquiry