The number of people notifying Kent County Council (KCC) about private fostering arrangements has reached a ten-year high. Private foster carers are people who look after a child under 16 (or under 18 with disabilities) full-time for 28 consecutive days or more and are not a parent or close relative. Those planning to care or…
Kent County Council (KCC) needs more than 150 new households to join its team of foster carers and help change the future of vulnerable children in the county. The Local Authority is backing Foster Care Fortnight 2018, the UK’s biggest foster carer recruitment campaign which runs until May 27. Lucy Buck, 48 and from Folkestone,…
For almost 20 years KCC foster carers Mary and Bob Howse have opened their home to disabled children with complex needs. So, when asked to appear on Channel 5’s ‘Do the Right Thing’ with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, they leapt at the chance to raise awareness about the vital lifeline short break fostering placements…
Kent County Council foster carers have thanked a Boughton Monchelsea mum for donating hundreds of chocolate eggs to children in care. More than 200 were collected by foster carers Emily Lydamore and Michelle Slater for the Easter Scavenger Hunt at Pegwell Bay Country Park, Cliffsend, Ramsgate on Tuesday, April 10. The rest will be distributed…
Can you open your home and heart to an adult who needs your support? If so, Kent County Council’s Shared Lives service wants to hear from you. Kent Shared Lives is hosting information meetings explaining how to become a host, a paid role supporting people with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, autism, sensory impairment or…
For many children in care, their brother or sister may have been the one constant presence in their lives. They may be the only person who truly understands and shares their experiences and can help them make sense of their new lives. That’s why in National Adoption Week 2017 Kent County Council will be focussing…
Foster carers across Kent have been rewarded for changing the lives of the children they take into their homes. More than 100 foster carers were nominated for this year’s Kent County Council Fostering Appreciation Awards, with nominations coming from social workers, fostering support teams and the foster children themselves. The awards, which were presented during…
A Kent foster carer who has been named in the Queen’s birthday honours list has described the nomination as a “complete surprise.” Teresa Carpenter, who has been fostering for 19 years with her husband Peter, received a letter after being nominated by one of her foster children. She commented: “I opened the letter a few…
A fostering information event is being held in Herne Bay on 7 February to help boost recruitment in this vital sector. More carers are needed across the county to help provide stable, permanent homes for vulnerable young individuals, which can make a crucial difference to their future. Prospective foster carers can hear presentations from people…
The Leader of Kent County Council, Paul Carter, has personally congratulated a Kent couple who’ve been awarded MBE’s for their services to children in the county. Ron and Rinie Upton have fostered a total of 151 children and were invited to County Hall to discuss their career as foster carers that spans an astonishing 32…
Kent County Council foster carers Carolyn and Derek Moody scooped a national award after one of their three foster children nominated them in secret. Nathan, 17, who has lived with the family for eight years and calls Carol and Derek ‘mum and dad’, told judges of the Fostertalk permanency award they ‘love me to their…
Kent County Council needs 200 new foster homes as the demand for carers is reaching crisis point. Without more carers, it is difficult to provide the stable, permanent homes which can make a crucial difference to the future of a vulnerable young person. The issue is a national one with more than 9000 more foster…