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Article Title:	Somerset Council Bans Would-Be Foster Carers Over Views On Child Discipline
Author of reported comment:	Gillian
Comment Date:	13:28 on Apr 10 2008
Comment:	In law, yes, parents are permitted to chastise their children. This is your choice, do as you will, however you do not have the right to be a foster carer (‘carer’, not ‘parent’). Councils have good reason to not place children they are responsible for in the care of a family who chastise their own children. They need to know they are safe and secure and can anticipate a consistent response from their carers, not someone who may get angry and lash out. Or who treats one child differently to another. This couple have had a recent bereavement, it seems clear their preference would be to conceive their own child again but as this has not been possible they are choosing foster care. I would be questioning their motivation. In addition, they seem to have views of looked after children as being ‘damaged' and who would be privileged to be in their care. This seems very old fashioned and patronising. Just being a professional who attends church is not enough. In fact a lot of children and parents would be intimidated by a family with a fancy house, are these people really in tune with the needs of the families they will be working with? It could be setting this family and children in their care up to fail. I take huge offence to you mentioning criminals and single mothers in the same negative sentence. Many of our great carers are single females, why shouldn’t they be? And perhaps someone with real life experience of going through difficult times, perhaps having criminal convictions (non violent and not related to children), and coming out of that strong, is the best person for the job? Councils are not desperate for carers, they are desperate for GOOD carers. I am pleased to see a council taking their responsibility to find the right people for the job seriously and not just letting ‘he who shouts the loudest’ become a carer

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