Is Foster Care The Best Place For A Looked After Child

Is foster-care the best place for a looked after child? Every child is entitled to feel respected, safe, loved and feel that they belong. It must, however, be recognised that society and families are changing and become acquainted with the life-changing impact these changes have on children. Every 22 minutes, a child comes into care in need of a foster family. But is foster-care the best option for these children or is foster-care becoming a cost-effective blanket approach for children requiring state care, regardless of what’s best for child. As White and Lane (2008) so eloquently state, â€Å"it would be a brave – if not foolish – person who advocated one form of care for all children and young people, regardless of circumstances†. â€Å"Children†¦show more content†¦The Children Act 1989 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC; United Nations Charter for the Rights of Children 1989) and the Children and Families Act 2014 have driven a theoretical and policy shift in the attitudes and understandings of children’s involvement in the services relevant to them (Goodyer, 2012; Simpson, 2015). Goodley, (2012 p394) argues children’s rights under the UNCRC are based on the three premises of rights: the rights to protection, provision and participation. This distinction can contribute to the ways in which welfare provision in England operates different models, simultaneously creating tensions between parallel provisions. The child development model underpinning the current child and family practice enables the provision and protection aspects of children’s right to be addressed. Child and family social work has been extremely preoccupied with providing childre n with a safe and protected childhood, with looked-after children being deemed a low priority in the participation, design, delivery and monitoring of their services (Goodyer, 2012). According to Cocker and Allian (2012 p36) â€Å"the philosophy of the Children Act 1989 is that the best place for children to be brought up is within their own family, and that children in need can be helped most effectively if the local authority – working in partnership with parents – provides an