Why am I waiting?

THEME
Why can’t I live with my family? Is care the best option for me? Have you asked my family members and close friends if they will look after me? If I am unable to live with my birth family, how will you choose a family for me to live with? How will you balance my need for love, education and stability with my need to preserve my heritage, language or religion? I need you to understand that for me as a black minority ethnic child these issues are particularly acute.
How do professionals and practitioners reconcile these
questions against the increasing numbers of black minority ethnic (BME) children being placed in the
public care system, a shortage of blackminority ethnic carers, the damaging effects of delay, few culturally sensitive services and the general lack of appropriate quality placements, and support services? And, how do they achieve a balance between adopters’ expectations and the needs of waiting BME children?
At the heart of these dilemmas questions about the natureof ‘race’, ethnicity, culture, language and religion remain.
The conference will bring together young people, researchers, professionals and practitioners.
AIMS
• to consider trends, reflections and challenges in child care work with BME children in public care
• to consider the implications of policy, research and practice for BME children in public care and their
families
• to share good practice and identify culturally sensitive strategies in the planning, placement and support of
BME children in public care