Dumfries and Galloway fostering service rated very good

A new report from the Care Inspectorate found that Dumfries and Galloway Council continues to provide a very good service to foster carers and children living in foster care.

Inspectors said that children are benefitting from good quality care from carers who are skilled to meet their needs. Communication and contact with birth parents is consistently well managed where this is part of a child’s care plan.

Chair of social work services, councillor Andy Ferguson, said: “Our fostering and kinship service has received very good reports consistently over a number of years. I know that the people in this service have the best interests of children and those who care for them at the heart of everything they do. They can be very proud of the service they provide and I am delighted to congratulate them on this excellent report.”

Vice chair, councillor Ted Thompson, said: “Managers have identified a training programme for staff professional development which will improve the service even further. The staff are supporting foster carers with report writing skills based on the GIRFEC (getting It Right For Every Child) wellbeing indicators.

“Since the last inspection, the service has increased the provision for intensive fostering for children with high support needs and will be advertising for more people to deliver this service in the near future.”

At the time of the inspection, the service supported a total of eighty foster carers. Seventy nine children and young people were placed with approved foster carers.

Between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012, 18 applications for approval of kinship carers had been agreed, six new foster carers were approved and 40 children and young people were placed with foster carers. On 31 December 2012 no children or young people were awaiting a foster care placement.