Foster carers needed for city’s black and minority ethnic children

Why do you need more foster carers from minority ethnic groups?

95% of Plymouth City Council's existing foster carers are white British. As Plymouth's population becomes more diverse we need to recruit foster carers who reflect the backgrounds of the children in our care.

We believe that children are better off in homes that reflect their heritage. Carers with similar roots are perfectly placed to help them understand their history and identity. Children often feel ‘different’ simply because they live in foster homes, so living in a community that reflects their background can have a positive impact.

If no foster family that reflects a child’s ethnicity is available then the child is often placed with a white British family. Such carers can take positive steps to value the child’s identity, making a real effort to incorporate any cultural or religious differences into their lifestyle. However, this will come as second nature to carers who share the child’s background, minimising any feelings of isolation and giving them a real sense of pride and achievement in their roots.

Carers who share a child’s cultural background are also better able to teach them to deal with discrimination, having faced the same issues in their own lives.

Which children from minority ethnic groups need fostering?

Although the majority of Plymouth’s foster children are white British, an increasing number come from minority backgrounds. These are often young children of mixed ethnicity and asylum seeking teenagers. Many of the latter have experienced trauma from living in very stressful circumstances, and some are unable to speak English. This creates inevitable barriers if we only have foster carers who do not speak their language.

We need carers from all religious, ethnic and cultural groups to ensure that we have suitable foster homes for all children. We are particularly keen to recruit foster carers who follow Islam or speak Arabic, Kurdish or Portuguese.

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