Foster carers, social workers, members of the judiciary, police officers, heads of schools, school councillors and psychologists were among those who attended the programme.
The training programme explored the long-term effects on children with unmet attachment needs and on those experiencing traumatic stress. It also helped participants attain an understanding of the problems faced by families living with children who have development and functional impairments, enabling them to establish strategies for living and working with them and consequently how to establish means of applying these strategies to everyday life.
Mr and Mrs Cairns emphasised the importance of establishing foster care on a sound basis as part of the developing childcare programme in Malta. This training programme, they said, explains that foster care is much more than being a parent; it is a therapeutic commitment towards children who have had a negative experience that more often than not leaves them traumatised.
The course also set out the special needs of children who have lived through adversity, and indicated how these needs may be met.
The programme was partly sponsored by the HSBC Cares for Children Fund.
Closing the seminar, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said that theory, experience and research in the disruption of attachment patterns and the process of traumatisation shed important light on understanding the needs of, and the intervention required by, children.
“Through listening to foster carers, I have learnt more about the strength and courage that these families possess, and the immense challenges which they face, at huge personal sacrifice, be they physical, psychological or financial. My sincere gratitude goes to these foster families, without whom our society would not be able to provide an alternative family experience to children in need”, she said.
She said that government has committed itself to promoting this service, and to investing in its development so it may serve the best interests of children. This is why, she said, the Inter-Agency Fostering Team, and eventually, the Fostering Team, was set up within Agenzija Appogg.
The minister said that the government’s commitment and investment has led to a substantial increase in foster carers, from 25 in 1996 to no less than 131 at present. In fact, 140 children are placed in foster families, thereby being given a second chance of a healthy family life.
“I need to mention a landmark, achieved last year, whereby three sets of siblings were placed in foster families. This means that not only were these children able to benefit from the care of their foster carers, but they were also spared the trauma of separation from their own siblings. This is the kind of achievement that this service is meant to generate”, she said.
The minister said that the work of the Fostering Services Team was complemented by the Looked After Children Service, which conducts casework with all children in care. The introduction of this team has improved the quality of service being provided for these children.
She added that the introduction in 2001 of the Child in Care Benefit helps by partly covering the expenses incurred by those sharing the responsibility of caring for these children. The public has responded well to these initiatives, as is evident from the interest in attending these seminars and the training programmes organised by Appogg.