Children waiting to be adopted in the West Midlands are to be found stable, loving homes quicker than ever before thanks to new measures. Six Midlands councils have been handpicked by the government to form one of the country’s first Regional Adoption Agencies, a brand new group of local councils and voluntary adoption agencies that join forces with one single purpose – to place children waiting for adoption with their forever family without delay.

People interested in becoming foster carers can find out more about this vital role at a special Fostering Friday event taking place this Friday (7 August, 2015). Members of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Fostering for Wolverhampton team, along with foster care champions, will be in Queen Square, Wolverhampton from 10am until 3pm for an informal chat with anyone considering becoming a foster carer.

One in four foster children in the West Midlands (over 1,400) moves home two or more times a year (April 2014 to March 2015), a Freedom of Information request by charity Action for Children has revealed. Children and young people who regularly move between foster care homes are more likely to have poor social skills, reduced education outcomes and limited future employment prospects – impacting on their mental health and exacerbating any existing behavioural and emotional issues.

Children in the West Midlands waiting to be adopted are to be found stable, loving homes more quickly, thanks to brand new online maps published today which will help would-be-adopters find the child to complete their forever family. So far in 2014-15, 460 children in the West Midlands have been placed in the permanent home they desperately needed, as a direct result of the government’s reforms to speed up the adoption system.

People interested in becoming foster carers can find out more about this vital role at a special Fostering Friday event taking place today (4 September, 2015). Members of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Fostering for Wolverhampton team, along with foster care champions, will be at Waitrose supermarket, Wolverhampton from 9.30am until 2.30pm for an informal chat with anyone considering becoming a foster carer.

Five of Birmingham’s best Foster Carers will be recognised for their outstanding work with children at Aston Villa Holte Suite on Saturday night (13 June) when they receive awards at a fundraising ball for the Birmingham Foster Care Association.