Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Fostering People is fully committed to promoting equality of opportunity in everything it does.
We are an inclusive employer, embracing diversity in our workforce and in our recruitment and selection practices.
Fostering People aims to integrate equality of opportunity into all of its employment activities. We seek to recruit and retain a workforce that is diverse and representative of the community and those whom the organisation works with or provides a service to- namely local authority colleagues, foster carers and children/young people needing placement.
No prospective Fostering People employee/worker or existing Fostering People employee/worker will be subject to any discrimination on the grounds of:
- Gender
- Age
- Marital status
- Race
- Nationality
- Ethnic or national origin
- Religious beliefs (or none)
- Disability
- Sexuality or sexual orientation
- Political beliefs or opinion
- First language
- Trade union membership/non-membership and involvement in trade union activities
- Caring responsibilities
This list is not exhaustive
With regard to recruitment and selection of staff/workers, job descriptions and person specifications are prepared for every vacancy, details of vacancies are made available via internal and/or external advertising, or existing staff/workers within Fostering People may be transferred. Applicants are short listed against the person specification and selection decisions are made on the basis of merit.
Fostering People seeks to operate within a framework of fairness, openness, integrity and accountability and expects the same of those providing services for the agency.
Key values and principles are to ensure that:
- All employment and service delivery policies and practices aim to reflect a positive valuing of human difference and diversity
- All staff and foster carers are aware of and understand the agency's commitment to equality of opportunity and their responsibilities in relation to this. Training and guidance for staff and foster carers will reinforce this, especially training for those involved in recruitment and selection decisions.
- Our workforce has the knowledge, skills and abilities to provide high quality services within a clear framework of anti-discriminatory, including anti-sectarian, practice.
- Our services are responsive, accessible, sensitive and appropriate to those who need and may benefit from them.
- Our recruitment, support and training of foster carers reflects the agency's commitment to having a range of foster families sufficiently diverse to meet the ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic and religious needs of children/young people requiring placement as well as any needs relating to disability, gender, religion or sexuality.
- Our recruitment, support and training of staff reflects this commitment to meeting the diverse needs of our children/young people and foster carers.
Foster carer pre and post approval training emphasises the importance of providing care which respects and reserves the ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background of children and young people who are looked after. Foster carers are provided with the necessary information, support and training to enable them to provide the best possible care and to promote the heritage of a fostered child/young person.
The participation of staff, foster carers and children/young people in the development and implementation of procedures and practices is encouraged and facilitated with a clear and consistent focus at all times on achieving equality of opportunity.
In these ways, Fostering People ensures that all policies and practices are in line with relevant employment and service delivery related legislative, regulatory and good practice requirements.
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