Leeds City Council have brought in a scheme to boost foster care numbers. They are offering 9 paid annual leave days to council employees becoming foster carers. This is to allow time for foster care meetings, training, planning and to help the foster children get settled in.
According to The Fostering Network in March 2020, 57,380 children were living with foster families.
Fiona Venner, executive member for adult’s and children’s social care and health partnership’s said: “I’m really proud that some of my fellow councillors are foster carers” and continues to say the scheme “gives flexibility to be a foster carer alongside working.”
Venner continued to say there are over: “900 child friendly ambassador in the city,” who are part of the initiative ‘child friendly Leeds’s’ and continued to say Foster4Leeds can now “promote” the scheme to the ambassadors as “something they might want to consider.” Encouraging more people throughout Leeds to become foster carers.
A member of the public said she would be more willing to become a foster carer if she wasn’t loosing out on money when taking time off to prepare, even though she is freelance as she “needs to work to get paid.”
Another member of Leeds public said they believe if more companies had a scheme like Leeds City Council does more people would become foster carers, as their “work schedule” wouldn’t make it possible without.
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