Our Values
Anchor Foster Care values the importance of providing effective services that enhance the life chances and opportunities of children and young people in our care.
Anchor Foster Care values the importance of providing effective services that enhance the life chances and opportunities of children and young people placed in our care.
Anchor Foster Care values the importance of providing effective services that enhance the life chances and opportunities of children and young people placed in our care.
Our values are centred around our foster families. We aim to attract people from diverse backgrounds. This enables us to provide the best foster parents to achieve a positive experience for children and young people. We welcome foster parents from different ethnicities, abilities and backgrounds.
Recruiting the right staff to recruit, train, support and monitor our foster parents is also vital to Anchor Values.
We believe that strong partnership working is key. Working with Local Authorities, birth parents (where permitted) and other relevant agencies is critical to ensure a comprehensive and effective approach to achieve our service provision.
We believe that children and young people should have a say in the service they receive. Our young people give feedback in a number of ways which include our child forums and our dedicated email address. In addition, they receive clear information in their welcome packs which tells them about feedback and complaints procedures. We encourage young people to call the office at any time they want to talk to someone.
Anchor agrees with the views of the Children Act 1989 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) that children are generally best looked after in their birth family where both parents play a full part in their upbringing. We know that due to difficult family circumstances this is not always possible.
- Over 50,000 children and young people are living in care in the UK. Fostering is a vital source of care that provides safety, stability and hope whilst enriching family life and unity.
- Our foster carers are vitally important, valued professionals in the fostering team. Research shows that effective support, training and respect for carers is critical in retaining our carers and building trust with staff and children.
- We respect and encourage each individual child's heritage. People, children and adults alike, are individuals who are to be respected and treated as equals, whatever their circumstances or difficulties.
- If it is in a child's best interests, we will always work with other agencies and Local Authorities to return the child to their own birth family.
- In some cases, long-term or other forms of permanent care may be in the best interest of the child. When this is the case we work with birth parents and other agencies. We do this in a non-judgmental and respectful way. In addition, our training emphasises the importance of working with birth families and to promote positive contact for the child.
- We recognise the importance for a child to know as much as possible about their background and family. Foster carers are expected to share this with the child as they grow and develop. We also encourage them to do this through life story work in partnership with the Local Authorities.
- We have a person-centered approach which is at the centre of our service delivery. Child and carers remain at the centre of all we do. We respect and value all our children, carers, staff and all other professionals involved.
The welfare of every child placed with our carers is at the core of our principles. We know that often children placed in care do not fare as well as other children. Children placed with us can expect a positive experience of family life. They can also expect to have their disadvantages acknowledged. Anchor work with carers to help the young people in their care. This includes; addressing a child's issues of social inclusion along with supporting them to achieve positive outcomes in education as well as post-school programmes and to form positive relationships with their peers.
