The Work of Foster Carers - Term Paper Example

Introduction Social workers provide counselling, advocate for the rights of the disadvantaged, assess needs and vulnerabilities, provide cares, and an agent of social control (Asquith, Clark & Waterhouse, 2005). Foster carers deliver standard care for adults and children for their psychological and emotional well-being; nurture a safe environment; and, sustain positive relations for effective services (Atkinson et al., 2005). Both professions require ethical standards as its commitment in the advocacy for social justice (Atkinson et al., 2005)—an engaging effort about influencing decision-makings, challenging assumptions, adopting greater services, opting for equality, protecting persons from abuses, balancing power, and the enjoyment of constitutionally-guaranteed rights (Atkinson & Forbat, 2005). This reflection paper will discuss about the application of the theory of advocacy among foster carers and its role in promoting the user rights and explain the potential conflict of interests that may pose dilemma ion the delivery of services. The researcher has opted to relate the theoretical discussion to the work of foster carers and contextualized in the community of Bexleyheath, an urban community of London. Section 1: Exploration of advocacy resources: an overview Social workers and carers, as service providers, give emotional support, representations of in decision-making bodies, offer opportunities for learning and empowerment, and develop intricate and valuable relations with clients (Atkinson et al., 2005). The carers speak up about abuses suffered by their clients and the need for legal or governmental intervention to transform their conditions through foster care institution before they can be reintegrated back to the community. It seeks to empower them from the state of being disadvantaged, marginalized, discriminated, and to gain immediate support from community-based social institutions (Atkinson et al., 2005). Different Ranges of Advocacy Relevant to Carers Atkinson et al. (2005) opined that advocacy differs in types. This can be citizen advocacy (CA) aimed at empowering peoples to take part in decision-making by pro-active participation. This is value-driven (Atkinson e al., 2005). It can also be an issue-based advocacy or a collective advocacy or complaint advocacy which engage carers to represent the service users for legal or administrative actions to indemnify them from whatever form of sufferings they have underwent through or to seek for policy enforcement that can redress the cause of their problems (Atkinson et al., 2005; Wertheimer, 1998). Atkinson et al. (2005) further explained that citizen advocacy can be alternately replaced with ‘paid-issues-based advocacy’. The service is deemed effective when it’s targeted to the most vulnerable sector or to people who wanted to change the condition they are circumstantially subjected into (Atkinson et al., 2005). All of these models of advocacy are applicable and practicable for carer-advocates. With empowered and informed citizenry, people can be driven to compel government to act on problems, e.g. victimization of women and children. Carers can also opt for legal action when abuses are evident and witnesses could help testify to put perpetrators behind bars or they can use ‘paid-issue-based’ for lobbying and partnership with media workers in promoting rights and causes. A concrete example of foster carers’ organization is FosterTalk, a UK-based organized carers specializing on independent comprehensive support for carers to make a significant difference to their very lives including its service users (FosterTalk, 2012). They provide legal and accountancy assistance, tax advice, counselling support, medical and first aid, online learning, and carer discount (FosterTalk, 2012). They also produce publication about foster caring and online social work support program. As fostering providers, they tailor fit the services in accordance to the needs of service user (FosterTalk, 2012). They immersed their carers to a training program to ensure that they are able to deliver comprehensive, responsive, and flexible approach to clients (FosterTalk, 2012). Strength and Weaknesses The organizations strength lies with its clear vision and mission; presence of human resources that could provide expert services; chain of supporting institutions that can partner with FosterTalk for discounts; the competence to manage a wide array of issues of carers in accordance to laws; and, the presence of policies supportive for carers across the regions of Great Britain (FosterTalk, 2012). There is wider social acceptability of the organization for all members because its programs and its ability to provide support for its employees, although there are no annual reports of the institution that can be read which will bare quantitative and qualitative contribution of the organization for social welfare and foster caring industry (FosterTalk, 2012). As a wide organization with broad areas of services, the organization is confronted with some weaknesses that need to be addressed well. This includes issues on service user’s variegated behaviours that can affect or result to carers’ service termination (FosterTalk, 2012). There are carers who complained about the lack of background information about the client or service users. Some carers needed to upgrade their child management technique to include anger management and psycho-emotional therapy, especially those who are working with children that are sexually abused or has undergone traumatic experiences (FosterTalk, 2012).The organization needs to look at allegations raised by service users against carers because if left unresolved this can contribute in the deterioration of organization’s credibility (FosterTalk, 2012). This requires an organizational performance appraisal too of its carers and organizational evaluations too about the potential threats embed in caring profession that may affect its business management and operation. More details about the organization can be viewed at a table below: Name of Advocacy Resource: FOSTERTALK Contact Details Address: Oak Tree House, Waterside, Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove, B60 4FD Phone: 01527 573 790 Email: Clients can email them at enquiries@fostertalk.org or through the use of contact weblink http://fostertalk.org/contact-information/general-enquiries . Website address: http://fostertalk.org the organization use Facebook as its social networking account; Show which type of advocacy service offered: Citizen advocacy – by opening opportunities for online foster carers’ forum where they can freely share their experiences and exchange views with 70 local authorities and experts to further the dialogue on foster carers’ issues. Online unlimited lessons can also be accessed in interactive resources by Foster Talk (2012) members. This is currently availed by pupils, carers and teachers. Supports are also available for all valued members through Foster Carers Discounts. They can shop, avail home and car insurance, and enjoy leisure, wellness, home cares, children educational supplements, and other necessary offer (FosterTalk, 2012). Self-advocacy – the institution provide cares of advises for opportunities to enjoy benefits and protection from the state, including the need to avail pre-need insurance. It also provides medical and first aid support (FosterTalk, 2012). Independent advises – these assist carers to access Independent Financial Advisors specialized on concerns relating to mortgages, pensions, income protection, life assurances and investment plans (FosterTalk, 2012). Members can also access accounting and tax advises to have in-depth understanding on tax rules, national insurance, state benefits, lodgings, adult placement and kinship care allowance. Home responsibilities protection is also included (FosterTalk, 2012). Collective advocacy- Carers can raise complaints and avail support from the company when one is distressed (FosterTalk, 2012). A range of wide issues pertaining to carers can be given remedies here through informed decision-makings. This may involve legal counselling or advises and right-based issues that may arise from contracts of fostering programs (FosterTalk, 2012). They also provide referrals. Which service user groups/groups are being offered advocacy? The organization provides services to carers and also to the clients served by carer-member. Brief description of advocacy services offered (50 words) The organization provide carer legal advice service, carer legal expenses insurance, arrest and interview assistance, accountancy and tax advice, counselling, educational support and regular online forum (with publication), social work support, medical and first aid, carer’s discounts, and other related support that could help for carer’s empowerment (FosterTalk, 2012). Macro to Micro: Bexleyheath Carer’s Advocacies In UK, there is an estimated ratio of 1:10 people considered as carer. About 60% of these carers provide services to persons with disability and about 1 million deliver 50 hours per week of services (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). The UK government has broadened the definition of carers as persons who provide services of caring for family members and friends who needed supports due to age, disability, and illnesses (either physical or mental) (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). Often, their services are unpaid and there are also significant numbers of youths engaged in the provision of services. The latter is criticized because this sacrificed the right of the child for education and needs to be associated with his/her peer groups, as they spent most of their time serving the aged family member or with the sick one (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). They undoubtedly lost their childhood to caring services. On the other hand, there are also parents who are seriously providing parental care to their disable children but this is seen as an exercise of parental right (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). The government are well aware of the plight of carers. In Bexleyheath, for instance, an urban community of London, the local government provides health and social care as an extensive model of safeguarding adults and children from abuses (Burke & Harrison, 1998; Strier, 2006). It has developed an integrated social mechanism for social services which involved police departments and the Commission or Social Care Inspection tasked to evaluate reported cases of abuses (Burke & Harrison, 1998). Standards of care are also upheld and any potential victim can either report directly to authorities or via online access (Burke & Harrison, 1998) for immediate medical attention and social services needed. Professionals are also organized as carers to listen to abused children for psychosocial trauma healing sessions (Burke & Harrison, 1998). The range of advocacies resource and roles adopted in the Bexleyheath are provided in the following information cited below: a. Legal action advocacy – where police enforcers and other authorities are mandated to investigate into reported cases of abuses. Legal action are mounted against the perpetrators and support services are provided to victims of abuses; b. Carers Support advocacy - Authorities and professionals advocate provision of support for carers (Burke & Harrison, 1998 which includes provision of a place for respite, information and education, support for independent living for adults, provision of emotional or parental supports, and health services (e.g. stroke support). They operate as a charity institution and have adopted flexible rules for carers’ management (Burke & Harrison, 1998); c. Issue and media-based advocacy – Bexleyheath use multimedia for its social welfare advocacies. These are supported by professionals and government institutions noting its open interagency collaboration to support adults, children, including carers as well. It can be inferred that the community has adopted an integrated approach to advocate adult, children and carers rights (Burke & Harrison, 1998). Problems or issues of a person are documented to match the needs and the required services (Burke & Harrison, 1998; Asquith, et al., 2005). For instance, a severely battered and molested child of a stepfather can be assisted by a carer while other social welfare authorities provide legal measures to ensure that the child can be saved from the criminal designs. Caring is also made innovative by the community using technology as way of communicating and reporting abuses in their community. Information technology improves public awareness and motivates broader public participation on adults and children’s issues so that problems become a shared story. They have also adopted a Community Safety Partnership Strategy (Burke & Harrison, 1998) where advocates can write letter to the editor, phone-in in local radio stations, conduct press conference, meet with editors, and encourage families of survivors to expose an issue to gain mileage and public attention (Burke & Harrison, 1998). d. Policy advocacy – which could also be considered as legal advocacy. Bexleyheath crafted it programmatic intervention in partnership with agencies and authorities to lobby to policymakers to legislate policies for social welfare (Burke & Harrison, 1998; Asquith, et al., 2005). The community has evolved with sensible discourses too on for effective decision-makings and engaged policy-makers for legislative act on carers and anent issues, including issues of Carer’s institution (Burke & Harrison, 1998). All these forms of advocacies are significant for carer’s institutions because the organization certainly needs laws that could improve its performance and increase its budget for operational and administrative use. Advocates must also pursue vigorously networking and collaboration to find potential partners for child right and childcare advocacies (Burke & Harrison, 1998). The organization must likewise collaborate with media institution to publicly discuss the downside aspect of managing the organization amid increasing number of clientele needing psychosocial healing, social care, and responses for their physical or educational needs (Burke & Harrison, 1998). Some of the cases here were publicly dealt in order for the families to be reminded too of their primary responsibilities on their children and their safety (Burke & Harrison, 1998). This is also a strategy to pressure their government to improve its social services for the abandoned, neglected, and abused children (Burke & Harrison, 1998). Section 2: Working in partnership with service users/ carers It is very important for carers, from formal or informal sectors, to partner with professionals practitioners such as social workers, health providers, from the academe, voluntary sectors, and from the legal system to empower themselves as service providers (Ife, 2001). Through partnership, they are able to gain public support, assert for mutual respect, and develop collaboration with other agencies to make their concerns a shared responsibility of the community (Ife, 2001). Shared goals in resolving carers issues can be dealt well by building on the strengths, identifying appropriate mediations and promote domestic and social change (Burke & Harrison, 1998). Through this, the community will be able to change social work as an emancipatory process for service users (Ife, 2001). The carers’ plights require a multi-stakeholders involvement to be more engaging in handling their issues. It’s also a strategy to inspire government to be accountable too on their conditions and welfare as service providers (Asquith, et al., 2005). A greater demand of eloquency in articulating the issues of foster carers should be tabled too to involve other stakeholders in responding and implementing laws, which is in a way, protective of service users (Asquith, et al., 2005). Social workers in foster care institution should also network and collaborate with national and international organizations to strengthen its services and advocacies as they work with shared goals for social justice. As foster carers, they shouldn’t be just simply equipped knowledgably about care management but must come to realize that they are just mediating body as service provider and that the service users will remain reliant to the community for his personal growth and development (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). Carers should realize that service users behaviours are consequences of their biopsychological and environmental interaction and that the carers’ role is simply to assist or manage their problems and help cope up to make them effective persons when they’ll return back to their original environment (Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2001). Carers’ partnership with media institution is also necessary to bridge public education on children’s rights and issues. As earlier pointed, the centre of client’s life is the community itself. The cares, a an institution, is just a mediating structure (Atkinson & Forbat , 2005). Ultimately, the carers goal is to see client’s empowerment to capacitate them in enhancing control to their very own lives, become self-reinforcing, and become less dependent from mediating stimuli (Atkinson & Forbat , 2005). Advocates should also realize that the networks and partner require constant information and exchanges too. The foster care institution must also do its performance management, monitoring, and sustainability plans to ensure that interactions happen among stakeholders to fulfil their part of the responsibilities (Beresford, P. & Croft, 2004). Foster carers, as advocates, must improve their sense of efficacy by maximizing all forms of promotion, bargaining, negotiation, and make its network a client-centered system. These are the best challenges that should be surmounted (Beresford, P. & Croft, 2004). Implications of Conflicts of interest As a professional in advocacy management, I have the purview that sometimes our ideation predominate in diagnosing an issue of a service user and ergo, this might fail me to truly represent the interests, ideas and feelings of the client (Atkinson et al., 2005). Critiques pointed that there are advocates who thinks that their opinions served well for the service users and consequentially, sacrificed some options of the clients. This might be because care providers have already our own framework in relating with clients. Of course, nothing beats a well-informed decision-making on specific situation. This is because our functions and roles are affected by the situation of the service users and the changes within the community e.g. political, economic and social changes (Françozo & Cassorla, 2004). This will also include affectations brought by policy and over emphasis on welfarism and managerialism (Jordan & Parkinson, 2001). But yes, though there are times when we shrink from performing our responsibilities as care providers due to some confusion, however, we also need to be client-centered as carers too. Otherwise, our services will not be necessary if we cannot see our roles for those who are seeking our support. With caution and sensitivity, we needed to be grounded on core values and ethical imperatives to withstand the political, economic and social developments and changes (Atkinson & Forbat , 2005; Lyons, 2002). This is the only way that conflict of interest is resolved whenever there is an innate negation to both personal and organizational goals (Atkinson et al., 2005). The nature of the work is not glamorous. It is ruled by conventions, laws, regulations and professional ethics (Atkinson et al., 2005). It is of this context that foster carers must help shape the political, social and economic landscape favourable to them as they continually improve their competencies and values as service providers (Lyons, 2002). When a carer is called to provide services for children that have suffered domestic abuses and are coping strategies too from violence and confusion roused from unstable family relations (Gorin, 2004), higher professional skill is required here. True, it has become the role of the social worker, both within government and among non-government institutions, to advocate or partake the mission of addressing the concerns of those dejected and the crestfallen, such as the children, most of whom are abandoned or are survivors of their own fears and trauma (Gorin, 2004). But raising a child nowadays, indeed, require the whole community’s care. To some extent, this may intrude to the personal relation of coupes and of their children, but carers must also look into how they can contribute for psychosocial and emotional rehabilitation of the abused. New approaches to inspire and motivate good parenting must be advocated too because they are supposed to be the primary provider of emotional and psychological needs of their children. Unless the parents are incapable to provide parental care, the carer must take the risk of asking for institutional support from social welfare. Carers may confront financial odds or of resource generation problems too but this can be remedied if the management could optimize many ways to access public funds and resources from grants. If advocates are able to thrive on difficult situations amid contemporary issues in foster institutions, they will be able to rise above dilemmas by taking practical dimensions and multi-stakeholdership on foster care (Beresford, P. & Croft, 2004). 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