IFCA National Conference 2018  FOSTERING STABILITY

The Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA) is the national organisation that supports foster families and the wider fostering community. We advance and promote best practice in foster care through support, learning and advocacy. Membership is broad-based and includes foster and relative carers, social workers, childcare workers, academics and others with an interest in or who are involved in foster care.IFCA aims to build a learning community so that those with an interest in foster care can learn together, engage in dialogue, share experiences and develop the quality of fostering practice. The annual conference is one of a range of opportunities in IFCA’s learning programme which also includes training, seminars, and a biannual journal on foster care practice, policy and research, ‘Foster’.

Irish Foster Care Association

The Irish Foster Care Association National Conference brings together all those with an interest in foster care, including general and relative foster families, health and social care practitioners, academics, students, teachers, policy makers, and members of the community and voluntary sector to learn together, engage in dialogue, and share their experiences and best practice. We run three parallel programmes for children, young people and adults. Conference details available <A HREF="http://www.ifca.ie/conference-and-booking-information/" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.ifca.ie/conference-and-booking-information/</A><A HREF="http://www.ifca.ie/index.php?cID=746" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> </A>
This year’s Conference theme is Fostering Stability. It is well-recognised that a secure and stable environment is key to children’s healthy development and well-being. Due to the circumstances which lead to children being received into care and the many changes to their world that may be part of this, it is critical that we do all we can to support the most vulnerable children in our society to feel safety, security and stability.
The Conference will offer scope to explore how the system can better support stability for children in foster care and look at many aspects of practice and policy of relevance to this theme. Stability may relate to our everyday foster care practice – how can our practice facilitate healthy child development and well-being? Stability may also relate to the practical and legal arrangements that are in place for a child. For example, how can every element of a child’s care-planning and its follow-through contribute to a child’s sense of stability and well-being? For the foster family, what are the factors which can contribute to parental autonomy within the foster-care parenting role? Closely related to the concept of stability in foster care is that of permanence. The meanings of permanence in terms of stability, emotional security and family membership into adulthood are complex [1]. One definition of permanence is: ‘a set of goal directed activities designed to help children live in families that offer continuity of relationships with nurturing parents or caretakers and the opportunity to establish lifetime relationships’[2].
 Another definition is: ‘the security and well-being that comes from being accepted as members of ‘new’ families’[3]. While some children who come into care return to live with their birth parents, for those who can’t, permanence within the foster family can be an alternative. In the Republic of Ireland, a number of different legal options are available or may be proposed within the current review of the Child Care Act 1991, and views vary on which of these options is best able to achieve permanence in both practical and emotional terms. Other areas central to the concept of stability in foster care include: the provision of supports to foster carers; and more broadly, how can the stability of foster care itself be sustained in Ireland? We hope that the conference will stimulate further debate, discussion and learning on these many aspects of fostering stability.
[1] Schofield, G., Beck, M. and Ward, E. (2012) Part of the family: ‘Planning for permanence in long-term family foster care in long-term family foster care’ Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1) January.
[2] Maluccio and Fein, 1983: 5, cited in Stott and Gustavsson, 2010: 622, cited in Moran, L., McGregor, C. and Devaney, C. (2017) Outcomes for Permanence and Stability for Children in Long-term Care. Galway. The UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, The National University of Ireland, Galway.
[3] UK Performance and Innovation Unit (2000) in O’Brien, V. and Palmer, A. (2016) ‘Permanence in long-term foster care: what are the options?’ Foster, Issue 2, pp27-45.

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IFCA National Conference 2018 FOSTERING STABILITY

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