We've had yet another rotten lousy Contact, and the child went off the rails after being chronically let down -again - by family members who kid themselves their refusal to co-operate amounts to a valiant stand against the establishment, but all they're really doing is walking all over one of their own children. "Contact" is where fostered children are taken to meet their real family members. It's...

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I see they've shifted Chris Huhne to what's called a "soft" prison. Must be nicer for him somehow. Smaller queues for the ping pong table. Own bed instead of a bunk. Able to make himself a cup of Gold Blend as and when.  Actually, it's not really a creature comfort thing. It's a people thing. In an open prison he's going to be with white collar convicts. Men who've done VAT fraud and the like. Men...

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This isn't a post. It's just a postscript to yesterday's post. I wrote yesterday's post about Sofa Surfers and later the same afternoon got a call from one of my sons to say things had gone a bit pear-shaped for him and he was in the dumps. I sorted things with partner, and at 6.00 pm hopped in the car and drove the 60 miles to my son's flat. We chewed the fat over a bottle of wine. He felt a...

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Do you know what a "Sofa Surfer" is? I didn't until today.  When a new child joins your home, you have to nip them down to your doctor's surgery, usually, to register them. On this occasion  the receptionist asked "Address?" I gave my house address.  Then the receptionist asked "Is that the permanent or temporary address?" I replied "Temporary, at the moment." The receptionist...

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How often does the average foster carer think about giving it up? Quite often, if they are anything like me. Obviously, you think about it more often when something is going badly at home. That's when your brain rekindles your favourite fantasy. In my case a fantasy where I've not only packed it all in, but gone off to live in the sun. I see myself lolling all day on one of those mahogany 4 berth...

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What do we foster carers do about alcohol? I'm gonna avoid the temptation to answer the question with a flippant joke such as: "Make mine a double" Another report out this week finds that we're drinking far too much and lying about it to ourselves, our loved ones, our doctor. As foster carers we often find that drink played a big part in the lives of looked-after children. And they want to try...

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