Fostering and Family Based Care (FFBC) guide for professionals

The Aim Working with children, their families and supporters to reduce the number of Birmingham children living in residential care;

through greater evidence-based understanding of the needs of children in care;

enabling children to experience fostering or family based care where safe and appropriate.

Introduction

The Trust recognises the disparity in long term and life chances outcomes for children in residential care compared to children in foster care. As corporate parent, it is committed, where appropriate, to giving every child the opportunity to experience fostering or family based care. The Fostering + Family Based Care project aims to work with all relevant partners, organisations and services to ensure all available support for the child and prospective carer are maximised, and to make the move permanent and sustainable.

What is the Fostering and Family Based Care (FFBC) Project?

FFBC is an innovative Birmingham Childrens’ Trust project and umbrella service to ensure that the right children are living in residential settings. Many of these children, with the right support and planning, will be able to live in family-based care arrangements either with foster carers or birth family. In the long term, research tells us comparably, children in foster care do better in respect of their education and health / wellbeing outcomes.