'Substantial' rise in help for foster carers

Foster carers are due for a substantial increase in financial and therapeutic assistance following Monday's Budget, in a drive to reduce the number of children in institutions.

If they cannot enjoy a natural family, they should have a substitute, who should benefit from training, supervision and professional assistance, the permanent secretary at the Social Policy Ministry, Frans Borg said, reiterating the government's commitment to prioritise out-of-home child care.

Even the economic benefits of removing children from institutions and placing them in foster homes were considerable, he said.

The government firmly believed that a child's place was in the family but the difficulty lay in finding a sufficient number of foster carers.

"Help is at hand for immediate action," he told stakeholders at the launch of standards, procedures and policy documents for institutions and foster families.

"We have made our case and our demands have been heard," he reassured them.

Out-of-home care, it was stressed, lacked financial and human resources.

"Is it possible that we do not have the means to cater for the 400 boys and girls in institutions?" Mr Borg asked, adding that every child in a home was the state's failure.

The Budget allocation would allow for initiatives that have been outlined in a 10-year strategic plan, launched yesterday.

The recommended projects would run into millions of euros of recurrent expenditure, he said.

The aim is for the measures to be implemented in a much shorter timeframe than set out in the strategy and the ministry would prioritise the projects that would immediately benefit from the allocated funds.

These included strengthening the family by setting up the necessary structures and launching a national policy shortly.

Placements should also be based on family homes, which, although expensive, were the way forward, Mr Borg said, adding that Housing Authority flats had been blocked for possible use.

The Don Bosco villa in Balzan was a successful model, which was bringing up six boys in a home environment. But running it required as many as eight full-time employees, excluding other expenses, he pointed out.

The problem of "secure places" also needed to be addressed and not in 10 years' time, he said, wondering where convicted children should go: To Mount Carmel Hospital or to prison?

A project was in hand and its costings have already been worked out, he said.

Outreach programmes needed to be expanded to grab the bull by the horns and avoid that children were removed from their families in the first place, he said.

Mr Borg said the strategic plan addressed the "big problem" of placements and the need for structures in case of emergency care orders.

The documents launched yesterday are the fruit of a wide consultation process that kicked off in February 2008 but has been in the pipeline for five years.

The national standards for residential homes and foster families for children were aimed at improving their quality of care and offering the best alternative protection, said the director of the Department for Social Welfare Standards, Kenneth Grech.

They say siblings should not be separated unless it is in their best interest; that their move to their new home has to be carried out sensitively; that the out-of-home care is guided by a an individual plan; and that placements should match their needs, life situation and original social environment.

The department has also launched a child-friendly version of the standards, which continues to explain that children's relationship with carers should be based on individual attention and that they should be empowered to participate responsibly in decisions that affect their lives.