Ready?: 03/07/2010
 We finished our foster training yesterday. It's only been 4 days but we have got so much from this training - far more than when we have done it before. For info (if you are interested) we have looked at deeper levels of attchment theory, the dance of reciprosity (one of the most helpul tools I've come across), kublar's grief cyle etc etc - all pretty heavy at times but fantastic for getting you to grips with some f the underpinning theory of people and child development. Some of the theory stuff we have had has been complimented by various experienced foster carer's coming in to give us a sense of how all this can underpin the reality of caring for damaged kids. The session ended yesterday with us being handed an application form for starting the formal application process off proper. The balls in our court now. It feels like we are just at the starting blocks! This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. Add Comment Community?: 07/06/2010
 We started the journey of getting ready for fostering today. Some of you know about this and some may not. Don't really want to go into too much detail on the blog here as fostering is kind of private and the blog ain't! The training today was with social services and was really pretty good. Looked at why children go into Local Authority care (went a lot deeper than the Daily Mail headline grabbers!) and some of the legal framework that social services work to when looking at taking children into care. There were about another 15 people on the course and one of the things that struck me was the amount of kinship carers - relatives of people who can no longer cope with kids they have any more and, rather than the Local Authority taking them into care they are 'placed' with a member of the parents extended family (still under Local Authority input). There's a great video clip on kinship carers on a BBC blog here They reckon there are between 2-300,000 children living with kinship carers in this country and, whilst there must be untold amount of stories in the mix here and you have to be very careful not to judge, it just struck me as a bit of a damming inditement of our society today. Can you imagine the need for kinship carers back in the war or even up til 10/20 years ago. No! Extended families just cared for the kids - whoever they belonged to. But now, thanks to Thatchers britain (in my view) that community is so broken down that not only do we have thousands of parents who can no longer bring up thier kids but we also have the Local Authority having to get involved in the minute detail of these kids lives by creating a raft of kinship carers! I'm no expert but we've lost something in society haven't we? | About the blogger:
Dave started blogging when, as a family, we went to live in India for 3.5 months in '08. You'll find out all about that story by going to our old blog here.
Dave overdid it a bit on the old blog in India with posts going up most days, so since returning to the UK, he has taken a bit of a break but feels now it's time to blog again! (July '09). Blogging is a weird thing and a bit voyeristic at times (!) so why do it? Surely life blogging in the UK will never be as exciting for people as it was in India? Well, the main reason for beginning to blog again is that we are pretty naff at the normal kind of communication! We have a number of good friends that do not live in the UK too and this is just one way we feel we can touch base with them. Feedback is that they are happy (ish) with that too! The final good reason for starting again is that the one person who has hassled me back to blogging is my older brother in China who runs a great blog about his bizzare life in China which you can view here. I guess if I am honest it's him I have in my mind when I blog so, for his sake (as I know he will read it!), if for no one elses...here goes.... Dave ;-) Categories:All ArchivesJanuary 2012 Life mantra:
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought. |
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