BARNARDO’S OUTLINES NEW APPROACH TO FOSTERING TO GOVERNMENT MINISTER
Foster carers representing the country’s leading children’s charity today met with the Scottish Government’s Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don-Innes MSP, to outline a pioneering new “extended family” model approach to foster care.
To tackle the ongoing crisis in fostering, Barnardo’s Scotland first unveiled the ‘Mockingbird model’ in 2021 in collaboration with The Fostering Network which is inspired by the support and relationships of an extended family. Today, the Minister met with several foster carers who undertake care for children using this exciting model.
Speaking about the Mockingbird model, Natalie Don-Innes MSP said: “All children should have the support, love and stability they need throughout their childhood, to enable them to have the opportunity to thrive.
“Foster carers have a vital role in this, by providing secure, stable and nurturing homes for children in their care. Foster care is key to delivering The Promise by 2030 and to supporting our collective efforts to tackle Child Poverty and I would like to thank foster carers for all that they do.
“I am grateful for the work Barnardo’s and the Fostering Network have put in to developing the innovative Mockingbird approach, which will enhance the support network available to children, and provide increased resilience for carers.”
Anne Whyte, Assistant Head of Fostering and Adoption at Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “The Mockingbird model helps children, young people and foster families build a strong, caring community. This involves creating a ‘hub home’ with an experienced carer acting as a ‘grandparent’, surrounded by nearby homes that form a ‘constellation’.
“The aim is for the caring community to mirror an extended family, so that children can develop relationships not only with their own carers, but also with other children and carers. Everyday childhood experiences are encouraged, such as sleepovers and playdates.
“The service builds a community around a child, helping to provide stability, and if a foster care arrangement is put under strain, a child can go and stay with the hub home or move into another home within the constellation.
“The young people have the opportunity to go on sleepovers, on a regular basis, to build relationships with other families and children – and this is not just when their main home is under strain.
“There is no doubt that the Mockingbird model is proving to be a huge success in Scotland. We are keen to expand this offering, but, to do that, we need more people to come forward to become foster carers.”
Barnardo’s Scotland has eight families in its 2021 constellation. There are eight foster children and one young person in continuing care. The carers can be couples or single carers and some are short break carers.
The charity’s latest constellation currently has six families with seven foster children and one young person in continuing care. Working with The Fostering Network, Barnardo’s first introduced the Mockingbird model to its service in Edinburgh.
Janet Davidson, a foster carer from Fife, said: “The Edinburgh Mockingbird is more than an extended family to me; it has developed into a group of understanding friends, who themselves are also living with the challenges that fostering presents to its carers and young people.
“The support and knowledge within our group is well beyond what I expected and there is always someone 24/7 available and willing to listen to me, or to give me advice.”
Jackie*, also from Fife, has been a foster carer for more than 25 years, and became a carer for Barnardo’s in Edinburgh in 2021. She is keen to highlight the many positives of the Mockingbird model: “The Mockingbird is an extended family that provides lots of different support, planned and emergency sleepovers and short breaks. It gives our young people peer support, social activities to meet, build friendships and just have fun.
“We are in it together, so we never feel alone. This is because it is modelled on a family setting so other carers become almost like aunties and uncles and the other young people are like cousins once the relationships have been built.
“The aim is to improve the stability of fostering homes and to strengthen relationships between carers, children, young people and siblings who could be nearby with other carers, and extend it to when the young person moves away from their present carer to a home of their own or into an adopted home. This provides them a strong family connection that a lot of fostered children do not have.”
A crisis in fostering in Scotland was identified last year when Barnardo’s pointed to research by The Fostering Network that revealed the number of foster families required stands at 500.
Speaking at the time, Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “Fostering in Scotland is in crisis as the numbers of people registered to foster continues to fall year on year.
“A shortage of foster carers leaves hundreds of children without a safe and loving home, and that is something we are keen to address. But we strongly believe that any loving person can make a wonderful foster parent to a child who needs us the most.”
Barnardo’s Scotland is committed to keeping The Promise to care-experienced young people and to ensure every child in Scotland grows up safe, loved and respected. That is why the charity is calling on people to consider joining Barnardo’s Scotland as a foster carer. Barnardo’s has more than 80 years of experience of successfully matching children and young people with families, and there are many benefits to being a carer.
For more information on becoming a foster carer with Barnardo’s in Scotland, please visit www.barnardos.org.uk/foster, or call 0800 0277 280. The charity’s friendly and supportive staff are available from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
In the past year, Barnardo’s provided essential support to more than 11,500 children, young people, parents and carers in Scotland through more than 150 specialised community-based services and partnerships across the country. The charity works to ensure that every child has the best possible start in life.
To donate, volunteer or fundraise, please visit:
www.barnardos.org.uk/get-involved/raise-money.
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