Surrey County Council, which has to place more than 100 of its 500 children and young people needing a family outside of the county because of the shortage of foster carers, is to hold information evenings on becoming a foster carer for registered childminders. It chose them because they already have experience of looking after other people's children in their own homes.
Linda Johnson, fostering recruitment manager at Surrey County Council, said, 'We are particularly looking for foster carers for children aged from nought to five, and for teenagers.
'Childminders are a group of people who already have certain skills related to working with children, plus there are similarities in some of the training that foster carers and childminders do.'
She added, 'We have also written to primary schools, asking them if we can come in and talk to the children there about fostering, as often they will go home and speak to their parents about it. Just from three visits so far we will have reached around 1,200 children.'
Sharon Izzi, a childminder and foster carer from Surrey, has two foster children and looks after two other children for three mornings a week. She said, 'I started in foster care and childminding eight years ago, and I did my training for both at the same time. Doing both together works very well. I have seen my foster children come on in leaps and bounds because they are able to play and socialise with the other children that I look after.'
Ian Marratt, interim director of communications at the National Childminding Association, said, 'The NCMA would urge registered childminders who are thinking about combining childminding with being a foster carer to find out if there is any extra training and professional guidance and support available.'
