And children and young people in care are due to share their stories with politicians and professionals next week at a conference organised by the Jersey Safeguarding Partnership Board.
The annual recruitment and awareness campaign usually takes place over one week but has been extended this year because of a larger local demand for foster families.
Last month during a Royal Court case in which it was revealed that brothers from Jersey had had to be sent to separate foster carers in the UK because of a lack of families locally, the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, said there were ‘probably not enough Jersey resident foster carers’ available to take on children aged nine and above.
The campaign, which is being run by Fostering & Adoption Jersey, coincides with National Adoption Week in the UK, which runs from 16 to 22 October.
Anyone who thinks they may have the right skills to foster or adopt is being encouraged to visit one of the informal pop-up events taking place over the next month.
Sarah Michael, senior adoption social worker, said: ‘Part of National Adoption Week is to celebrate adopters and acknowledge the successes of adoption over recent years.
‘We will always need adopters to be ready for different types of children, especially older children and siblings. However, we will be focusing on fostering during this month’s campaign.’
The campaign aims to find families for the most vulnerable local children and will give people the chance to find out about all aspects of adoption, to clarify the process, reflect the challenges of adoptive parenting and share their individual stories.
Emmy Lindsey, manager of Fostering & Adoption Jersey, added: ‘We are very fortunate in Jersey to have many wonderful foster and adoptive parents, but there is still a real need for more people to come forward. We want to be able to offer the right family placement for the children who come into our care.’
Meanwhile, on Monday politicians and professionals attending The 2017 Jersey Safeguarding Partnership Board Children’s Conference at Hotel de France are due to hear from children and young people in care.
The conference, which is sponsored by the Bosdet Foundation and Andium Homes, focuses this year on the theme ‘Children in Our Care’ and is due to be attended by around 170 delegates. It has been timed to follow the publication of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry’s report, and seeks to address some of its recommendations.
