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22 Nov, 5 tweets, 1 min read
We must await the detail but plans for the next couple of months fill me with dread.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-550294…
We are not fostering at the moment, mainly because of #COVID19. Not because of the children, but because of the community that comes with them.
Guidance on COVID-19 is complex, to put it politely. It mostly comes down to someone's judgment, and that someone is unlikely to give priority to the risks to foster carers and their families.
Each time lockdown is weakened, it makes it more difficult, because the pressure to carry on as if nothing was happening becomes greater.
Pretty much all the foster carers we know are still fostering, because they are amazing. But I know that they are exhausted from navigating the issues arising from COVID-19.

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More from @MartinBarrow

Martin Barrow Profile picture
24 Nov
Today the Children’s Commissioner will give a speech, in which she will say the care system for children and young people is “on the edge of a precipice”. You can read about it here 1/ theguardian.com/society/2020/n…
The speech addresses the challenges set out in three reports published by the Children’s Commissioner last week. You can find them here 2/ childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/11/11/tho…
Privatisation of children’s services, including foster care and children’s homes, is not the only concern. But it is central to much that is failing. 3/
Read 12 tweets
Martin Barrow Profile picture
23 Nov
How it works: this guest blog in @cypnow is by Ed Nixon and Jonathan Stanley, who have championed private providers of children's services for many years. This is not disclosed in the blog...1/
cypnow.co.uk/blogs/article/…
...which is mostly a rant about the Children's Commissioner's recent report into failings in the care system, which was critical or privatisation.

Who'd have thunk it?
Also, the self-styled 'National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care' is not national, nor a centre. Essentially, another vehicle for the Independent Children's Homes Association lobby group.
But you knew that already.
Read 4 tweets
Martin Barrow Profile picture
23 Nov
This is how broken the care system for children is.

256 children in care from Wakefield have been sent to live outside the district.

356 children in the care of other councils have been sent to live in Wakefield.

This is the impact of privatisation.

wakefieldexpress.co.uk/education/more…
More than 600 children removed from their family homes, who must also say goodbye to everything they have ever known, through no fault of their own.
Local authorities must be held to account.
So too must @theNAFP and the Independent Children's Homes Association, whose members do this for profit. Keeping children close to their birth families makes less profit.
Read 5 tweets
Martin Barrow Profile picture
21 Nov
This children's home run by the private company Carbrey Ltd is a disgrace. Latest Ofsted report (uploaded yesterday) exposes serious failures that put children at risk. reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/2/115…
This is almost five months after whistleblowers raised the alarm over the way children were being treated in this home. Yet still, criminal exploitation is taking place and the home remains open.
Oh look...Carbrey is a member of the privatisation lobby group the Independent Children's Homes Association. Image
Read 4 tweets
Martin Barrow Profile picture
6 Oct
How voracious private equity firms plunder local authorities to make millions in profits from vulnerable children and young people in care (Thread) 1/
2/ You may never have heard of SSCP Spring Topco. It is a private company based in Jersey that is responsible for the lives of hundreds of children in care or with special needs in England.
3/ It has been growing at a rapid pace, unchecked by regulatory authorities. Its latest accounts, just published, show it now rakes in more than £265 million a year from local authorities. £265 million. Image
Read 18 tweets
Martin Barrow Profile picture
15 Sep
40 years ago this week, I landed in the UK, alone, still only 18, with my life packed into a small, battered suitcase. I had no plan, just a promise to keep as many miles as possible between me and my parents. (Thread) 1/
It was a rubbish time to come to England to try your luck. This was Thatcher’s Britain, with millions out of work. I spoke poor English and had no qualifications after dropping out of school. 2/
But I hustled my way into jobs, stacking shelves, clearing gardens and working in a print shop. I lived in digs with the sweetest, older couple who treated me with kindness. I even returned briefly to school. 3/
Read 10 tweets

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