Innovation is usually a good thing, pause for thought? Well, where Fostering children and adoption are concerned; and this is the case with most things, some new thinking could be a good thing. When the leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network headlined that a new approach to fostering could “really revolutionise how fostering works in this country”, it’s sensible to sit up and take note. A memorable name always helps: anyone thinking of fostering is likely to be interested in this latest departure: The ‘Mockingbird’ family model is the rather memorable name to now be added to add to the vocabulary concerning fostering children. What is now so significant is the interest that the government has shown. Given the pressures within the fostering services world – relating to supply and demand – not enough carers are available for specialist areas such as fostering children with complex needs. As demand rises, the government now has to be seen to be taking action. Fostering is a big step, so anyone considering it should be heartened by a government providing new resources to fund new approaches. Support is coming via the Department for Educations’s innovative new programme. This has seen almost £1.6m in funding for the Fostering Network to pilot the ‘Mockingbird’ family model across eight local authorities: included are Oxfordshire county council, Leeds city council and the royal borough of Greenwich.

Mockingbird and what it means.

It’s now time then to look beyond the name: so a visit to the website http://www.mockingbirdsociety.org/index.php/what-we-do/mockingbird-family-model will yield comprehensive information. In essence, the Mockingbird Family Model (MFM) delivers a model of support that creates a defined community. In each MFM, six to ten what are termed ‘satellite’ families live closely to a licensed foster care family. This is called the ‘Hub Home’ and offers help in a number of different ways: providing peer support, respite care and – especially useful – helping carers navigate the bureaucracy. The ‘Hub Home’ is made up of specially trained foster carers who have expertise and experience meaning anyone fostering children with disabilities within the ‘satellite’ group will, for example, be offered additional support. This could come in the form of as respite care. or additional training. Within this model, The ‘Hub Home’, together with all its individual satellites is known as a ‘Constellation’.

The model is notable as it is not dependent on the more usual ‘top down’ approach. Fostering can be very isolating, so an emphasis placed around joint planning, then combined with social activities provides tangible support. It can be seen that this new model does have the potential to ‘shake up’ what have been the hallowed orthodoxies of fostering. What is so new is carers can be empowered to feel part of a larger and recognisable group. This represents a change to the established order where carers have all too easily (and understandably) been forced to fall in line with an unrelenting orthodoxy: one that is often overly bureaucratic.

A timely model for empowerment for those who foster.

For those caring for a child they will almost certainly be aware of the coverage around the perceived failure to provide adequate resources for fostering. Cuts have been made that impact on the level of support carers get. Proper funding is crucial for carers, but the confidence that specialist provision will be available can make the all the difference as to whether someone remains in fostering. Fostering children with disabilities is just one area demanding high levels of resource and support: urgent attention needs also to be given to mental health services – and there are problems with CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). Placement instability has been having a seriously adverse effect on young people’s opportunities to access this service. The Mockingbird Family Model is already having a positive effect with regard to making placements far more stable. This means children will be in a better position to be helped by support services such as CAHMS. The ‘Mockingbird Family Model’ also has the potential to bring forth an entirely new ‘political paradigm’ for fostering. There are now 17 of these constellations active in England. In time they may come into being in much larger numbers in the UK. In this entirely new world, it is difficult to imagine a situation where a House of Commons Education Committee will be left to ‘express disappointment that 12 years has elapsed since the last prevalence survey into children’s mental health’. Pressure from below will almost certainly yield more than the periodic drip feeding of piecemeal initiatives from above. Once the general election is out of the way, a key government inquiry into fostering will be resumed later in the year. It will, without doubt, be being influenced by the results of the ‘Mockingbird Family Model’ experiment. In 2017 there is still a national shortage of over 9,000 foster families – this makes it an absolute priority to shape the system so as to encourage and retain the foster carers we have.

A ‘Rainbow Rewards’ bonus scheme if you foster.
We are seeking people to go into fostering: we will happily pay a bonus of £500, if you are a foster carer and in a position to refer someone to become a foster carer. After their first placement has been made -following your original referral – we will pay the bonus. If you are already an approved foster carer and have a long term foster placement, then we’ll make it easy for you to transfer to Rainbow. Once transferred, you will be eligible for a bonus. Aside from that, Rainbow Fostering are always happy to provide a wealth of information on a whole range of fostering topics. Just give us a call on 020 8427 3355.

Rainbow – always happy to answer your fostering queries.
Rainbow gives information about all aspects of fostering. Our team is regularly asked for information about things such as – foster carer pay, fostering requirements uk, how long does it take to become a foster carer and how much are foster carers paid. We can advise on these and a range of other foster care

The latest news is out…
The Rainbow ‘Read All About It’ news section can be found on our website. We enjoy helping anyone in fostering to keep ‘up to speed’ with the issues. So if you are thinking of catching up with more news about uk fostering and related subjects simply visit http://bit.ly/2e8PrIK Our latest piece is ‘Leicestershire couple celebrates 45 years of fostering’ – an inspirational story.

And the good news at the end of this Rainbow…summer has arrived and it looks like it’s staying!!!

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