TACT Manifesto

To coincide with the 2010 General Election, TACT produced its Fostering & Adoption Manifesto for Children in Care. 

Our top ten priorities for the new government are:

1. Participation: TACT wants all those involved in making decisions about children and young people in care to be able to demonstrate how children's wishes have been listened to and how young people participate in all aspects of their care.

2. Advocacy: TACT wants children and young people to have the "right to regular access to a paid and well trained advocate at crucial times." Access to advocacy services should include proper support and explanation of court proceedings in the Family and Youth Courts.

3. Mental health: TACT wants the services provided by Child and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to be available to all those children and young people who need it.

4. Permanence: TACT wants the message from research on permanence to be part of best practice when children and young people enter the care system.

5. Education: TACT wants future education policies to reflect the need to treat looked after children and young people more as individuals and not simply looked at in terms of current attainment levels.

6. Returning home: TACT recommends that a thorough assessment is made before children are returned home and that the knowledge and skills of foster carers are used to ensure that more positive outcomes are achieved when children return home from foster care.

7. School admissions: TACT wants the legislation amended to enable recently adopted children to be given priority admission to local schools.

8. Best interests: TACT wants the government to ensure that when looked after children need adoption their best interests are paramount and reforming the inter-agency fee paid to voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) would increase the number of adoptions.

9. Leaving care: TACT wants to see the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 strengthened to enable all young people leaving care to receive the maximum, not the minimum support.

10. Youth justice: TACT wants the new government to make the welfare concerns for looked after children in the youth justice system a rpiority. Welfare needs should be specifically incorporated into sentencing packages.

Relevant links

Download our Manifesto which is available in both English and Welsh:

Contact

If you would like to speak to us about this Manifesto and the recommendations we've set out, contact Richard Parnell, TACT Research & Policy Advisor, r.parnell@tactcare.org.uk / 020 8695 8106. Alternatively, contact Gareth Crossman, TACT Executive Director of External Affairs, g.crossman@tactcare.org.uk / 020 8695 8120 / 07976 389 925.