Diane Benjamin - Director of Children's Social Care in Hackney
Maria Takaendisa - Anti-Racist Practice Trainer 

In this bonus episode, Diane, Maria, and I reflect on how Children's Social Care in Hackney has received the podcast, our commitment to working more collaboratively, and the challenge of balancing safeguarding structures with respect for foster carers' lived experience and wisdom. We also discuss the impact, both personally and professionally, of the first two Anti-Racist Practice: The Foster Carers' Perspective meetings and what the goals are for taking this vital work forward.

Enjoy the episode!

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan

Foster Carer Liz

Addressing the toxic blame culture has the greatest power to transform Children's Social Care for the better.  For everyone, including social workers.  Foster carers are the least powerful adults in the network of professionals around the child, making us the most vulnerable to being scapegoated for failures in the system.

Today's episode completes the first season of Fostering Respect. It is probably the most difficult to hear but the most important for staff at every level to hear.  Over 40 per cent of foster carers resign within the first two years of fostering. Liz's story is remarkable for the fact that she kept going despite being subjected to the full force of the blame culture.  

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan

Foster carer Evette

Foster carers are fully-fledged human beings with life experience, education, and wisdom to share. It is worth listening to us because positive changes can happen when we are allowed to speak. Today's episode is from Evette, who has been instrumental in bringing about some important changes in the way the Police and the Care Service in Hackney work together to prevent the criminalisation of care-experienced young people.

We discuss some of the outcomes of the discussion groups we have held between foster carers, the Youth Engagement Team officers of the local Met Police Borough Command Unit and Children's Social Care staff in Hackney.  If you would like to learn more about the project, email [email protected]

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan

Foster Carer Kim Flack

It seems that more articles are coming out about too many care leavers leaving the system unprepared for adult life. In today's episode, Kim talks about her experience of being excluded from decision-making about her young person's education.  The young person in question was achieving academically; both Kim and the school agreed that, with support and encouragement, she could do well in her GCSEs and go on to the college of her choice.  This was all jeopardised by decisions made by new, inexperienced social workers who believed they were doing the right thing by undermining Kim's parenting.

We talk about how it feels to be undermined and how easy it is for a placement which is going well to be jeopardised by a change of social worker.   

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan

Foster Carer and Hackney Village hub host Debbie Bright

Feeling isolated is one of the most common experiences for foster carers, especially new foster carers.  Access to peer support can make or break a fostering career.  So, in Episode One of Fostering Respect, we meet Debbie, a foster carer of 30 years and a Hackney Villages hub host.  She explains our vision for a care system where every foster family has the choice to be part of a village.  

The Hackney Villages are based on the American Mockingbird model, where an experienced foster carer becomes the hub host to a constellation of foster families.  This model is proven to reduce placement breakdowns.  Debbie explains the model and the benefits to the children, foster carers and Children's Social Care staff.

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan

There is a national crisis in the recruitment and retention of foster carers, so we want to begin some difficult conversations about how the system treats foster carers and present a vision for a more respectful, supportive and collaborative way of working.   

For six weeks, a small group of Hackney foster carers and connected carers participated in a series of workshops to tell their stories, good and bad, about the lived experience of being a foster carer.  

Fostering Respect is the Hackney Foster Carers' Council podcast.

Hosted by Joe Chown
Produced by Jermaine Julie and Lucie Regan
Executive Producers: Debbie Bright, Kim Flack, Evette Dawkins & Liz Hughes.

Supported by The Museum of the Home

Special thanks to Rosie Watts and Mimi Buchanan