Joint fostering partnership launched to support children and carers in North Yorkshire
Eight fostering teams from local authorities across Yorkshire are working together to help to give young people in need of foster care a stable start in life.
North Yorkshire County Council have teamed up with seven other local authorities to provide better support for foster children and families.
Foster4YourCouncil is a new partnership uniting Fostering North Yorkshire with council fostering departments from Leeds, Kirklees, Bradford, Calderdale, Wakefield, York and Hull.
This initiative aims to encourage people to consider fostering in their local communities.
Annette Rose is a foster carer living in Pateley Bridge and has been looking after young people for the last five years.
She grew up with foster children as her mother was also a foster carer.
She said: "It's always nerve wracking when you get a young person into your house but they're nervous too. So you kind of feel like it is OK and you soon get talking and it flows naturally.
"Obviously you have a bit of a honeymoon period and you will have some tough times. But at the end of the day if you can work through those tough times you get a good outcome at the end of it.
"From the time we first got our young person they are completely different. You get lots of love and they want the attention. It's just amazing the turn around.
"Just giving one young person a better chance at life than what they've previously gone through is probably one of the best things you can do as a foster carer. It's just managing to change a life and for the better."
Members will work together to offer advice and share resources to give foster children the best opportunities in our area.
North Yorkshire County Councillor Janet Sanderson, Executive Member for Children's Services, said: “We know that by fostering for your council you ensure that children and young people in care can continue to live within their communities. This means young people are able to stay close to their birth and extended families and attend their local schools where possible.”
The Foster4YourCouncil.org website launched on Yorkshire Day, 1 August, with joint online recruitment events and celebratory event will be held in 2021 and 2022. The councils involved hope that by working together they can encourage more individuals and families to come forward to foster the region’s most vulnerable children.
Cllr Sanderson added: “We are delighted to be working together with these seven partner councils, enabling us to emphasise the message that fostering with your council is supporting young people to stay in the area that they know best and reducing the stress they are under. Councils don’t work for profit, so all money is spent on children in care along with their carers and we firmly believe North Yorkshire to be a wonderful place to foster.
“If you are considering fostering, please visit Foster4YourCouncil for more information and to register your interest. Or, if you know somebody who is considering fostering, please share this link with them so that they can find more information and register their interest.”