- Berlin foster parents need more support
Berlin foster parents demand more support from politics and society. "Foster parents make a valuable contribution by providing a caring home for children in difficult life situations," said the chairman of the Berlin Advisory Board on Family Issues, Kazım Erdoğan. "We must focus more on the needs of foster families and ensure they receive the support they deserve."
Lack of support for foster families
"We are the cheapest option when children need to be taken into care, but we don't get any real support," said one of the parents participating in the family forum, according to a press release. The family forum was organized by the Berlin Advisory Board on Family Issues in cooperation with the Working Group for the Promotion of Foster Children. The Berlin Advisory Board on Family Issues is, according to its own statements, an independent, voluntary, socially representative body appointed by the Berlin Senator for Education, Youth and Family. It advises the Senate on family policy issues.
Foster children lack support in daycare centers and schools, it was reported. Existing specialists at Berlin schools are often overburdened, as children from so-called normal families often have behavioral issues - there's not enough time for even more challenging children.
Problems with changes in responsibility
One big problem for participating foster parents is that when the biological family moves, the responsibility shifts to another youth welfare office. Often, there's no time to read all the files, or new files are created and previously collected information and data are not considered, foster parents complained. Additionally, some youth welfare offices are unreliable with promises regarding applications and appointments. Foster parents demand that official responsibility lies with the youth welfare office at the foster family's place of residence.
Further demands include increasing the standard support rate, establishing a control committee for youth welfare offices to ensure quality, creating a central reporting office for issues like discrimination, and establishing a uniform counseling and support structure.
The European Union could provide funding and resources to address the lack of support for foster families, as acknowledged by the Berlin Advisory Board on Family Issues. The European Union's Family and Social Policy Strategy could include initiatives to improve foster care systems across its member states.
During a meeting with representatives from the European Union, Kazım Erdoğan, the chairman of the Berlin Advisory Board on Family Issues, emphasized the need for support for foster families, citing the valuable contributions they make.
