Sir, - As you rightly point out in your editorial (December 15th), social workers, on behalf of the Board they work for, are charged with the responsibility of finding safe, suitable placements for children in State care. On the other hand, contrary to the statement in your article, the vast majority of foster parents do already have children. Only a very small number do not.
There are over 2,000 foster families in Ireland. They are providing care for the 2,800 children who are in foster care. All these families have been rigorously assessed by social workers and they are not complaining about the process. Indeed some of these families will have been assessed more than once, should they decide to provide long-term care, having first been assessed as shortterm carers. A small number of these families will also be adoptive parents, meaning a third assessment. The main complaint we receive is about the length of time it takes to get the assessment started, something social workers have no control over.
Foster care is a service for children and social workers must ensure that they are placed with persons who have the skills and capacity to provide for the needs of the child. We have all read recent horror stories from and about adults who were abused or ill-treated as children in care. Perhaps if we had rigorous assessments in the past, these people would have been spared the hurt they have suffered.
For over a year now, IFCA have been meeting regularly with the Irish Association of Social Workers to discuss issues surrounding support for all those involved in foster care, be they foster children, foster families or social workers. Twice a year this group meets, together with a link person from each of the eight Health Boards. These meetings have been of huge benefit in so far as we all understand and respect each other's role and together we are making a submission to the Minister's Working Group on Foster Care. This in no way impedes any individual group making a separate submission.
There are many children in Ireland who currently need foster homes. IFCA is concerned that the recent coverage given to a very small group of people who have taken issue with the assessment process may result in fewer people coming forward and offering themselves as foster carers. Let us hope not. - Yours, etc., Keith Henderson,
Chairperson, Irish Foster Care Association, Ballinteer Road, Dublin 16.