Foster Carer Struck Off For Letting Muslim Child Convert

A Christian foster carer has been struck off by her local council after a Muslim child in her care converted to Christianity.

The carer, who has cared for more than 80 children during a ten-year period, was banned when officials at the council in the north of England ruled that she had failed in her duty to protect the girl’s religion.

A spokesman for charity The Christian Institute, which is funding the woman’s challenge to the decision, said the Muslim girl, who was 16 at the time of her conversion, had been offered transportation to her local mosque by the carer, but had insisted that she wished to convert to Christianity.

He added that the carer had spoken to social services about the girl’s wish to become a Christian, and that social services told the girl that she was free to convert if she wanted to.

But it was the local council’s fostering services team – which had not been consulted – that decided to ban the carer.

The carer has written to the council demanding reinstatement. She has asked lawyers to look into the possibility of a Judicial Review if the council refuses.

The Christian Institute spokesman said: “I cannot imagine that an atheist foster carer would be struck off if a Christian child in her care stopped believing in God – this is the sort of double standard which Christians are facing in modern Britain.”

“The carer is good at what she does – there are a shortage of foster carers, we need more women like her.”

Mo O’Reilly, director of child placement at the British Association of Adoption and Fostering, said: “Foster carers should do everything to uphold a child’s religion and culture but they can’t compel children to remain with their culture or religion if they want to change. Foster carers do a fantastic job going out of their way to educate themselves about different religions but a child is free to choose what they want to believe in.”