Type | Children's Charity |
---|---|
Industry | Fostering and Adoption |
Founded | 1993 |
Headquarters | London, UK |
Number of employees | approx. 145 |
Website | www |
The Adolescent and Children's Trust (TACT) is the largest charity providing fostering services across the United Kingdom. The charity across England, Wales and Scotland. As well as providing fostering families for children, TACT campaigns on behalf of children and young people in care, carers, their families and adoptive families across the UK.
TACT was set up in 1993 in response to changes in child care policy. Instead of local authorities placing children in their care in residential homes, increasing priority was placed on offering family based care to a much wider range of children and young people. This was consistent with the rapidly emerging philosophy of providing care close to children's own family, school and social contacts.
These rapid changes made it difficult for local authorities to meet the increasing need to provide foster care and adoptive placements and it was a concern for the lack of adequate provision which led to a group of local authority service managers, who were also qualified and experienced social workers to create TACT. The organisation was subsequently registered as a charity ensuring that any surplus income was reinvested in meeting the needs of looked after children placed with TACT.
TACT became an adoption agency in 2004 and expanded its size by joining together with the Independent Adoption Services (IAS) in 2007, Parents for Children (PfC) in 2009 and most recently with Supported Fostering Services (SFS) in 2019.
In June 2012 TV chef and bestselling cookery writer Lorraine Pascale became TACT's first celebrity patron.
TACT is a founding member of Fostering Through Social Enterprise (FtSE), a consortium of voluntary and non profit fostering agencies that advocate for children in respect of regulation, as well as representing its membership at central government level.
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the biological parents to the adoptive parents.
The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a large children's charity in London which uses the working name Coram.
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member approved by the state. The placement of a "foster child" is normally arranged through the government or a social service agency. The institution, group home, or foster parent is compensated for expenses unless with a family member. In some states, relative or "Kinship" caregivers of children who are wards of the state are provided with a financial stipend.
Action for Children is a UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children & young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 475 services in the UK. They served a total of 671,275 children in 2021 and 2022. Action for Children's national headquarters is in Watford, and it is a registered charity under English and Scottish law. In 2017/2018, it had a gross income of £151 million.
In the United States, adoption is the process of creating a legal parent-child relationship between a child and a parent who was not automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.
Interracial adoption refers to the act of placing a child of one racial or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another racial or ethnic group.
The Children's Society, formally the Church of England Children's Society, is a United Kingdom national children's charity allied to the Church of England.
Catholic Charities is a network of charities with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2005, Forbes magazine ranked it as the fifth largest charity in the United States in terms of total revenue. The organization serves millions of people a year, regardless of their religious, social, or economic backgrounds. In 2019, 12 million persons were served at more than 2600 locations. Next to the federal government, Catholic Charities is the largest US social-safety-net provider.
Child protective services (CPS) is the name of an agency in many states of the United States responsible for providing child protection, which includes responding to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as department of children and family services (DCFS). CPS is also sometimes known by the name of department of social services, though these terms more often have a broader meaning.
The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. The society is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose main goals include helping families, older Australians and people with disabilities.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 aims to assist youth aging out of foster care in the United States in obtaining and maintaining independent living skills. Youth aging out of foster care, or transitioning out of the formal foster care system, are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. As youth age out of the foster care system at age 18, they are expected to become self-sufficient immediately, even though on average youth in the United States are not expected to reach self-sufficiency until age 26.
The New York Foundling, founded in 1869 by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, is one of New York City's oldest and largest child welfare agencies. The Foundling operates programs in the five boroughs of New York City, Rockland County, and Puerto Rico. Its services include foster care, adoptions, educational programs, mental health services, and many other community-based services for children, families, and adults.
The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) was a membership association formed in 1980 and a registered charity. Membership was open to organisations and individuals concerned with child adoption and fostering. Corporate members included local authorities, independent fostering agencies, voluntary adoption agencies, NHS trusts, law firms and voluntary organisations. Individual members included social workers, health professionals, law professionals, adopters and foster carers. BAAF's 2013–14 annual review reported a corporate membership of more than 450 and 1400 individual members.
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a state agency of Florida. Its headquarters are at 2415 North Monroe St., Ste. 400 in Tallahassee, Florida. The department provides social services in Florida to children, adults, refugees, domestic violence victims, human trafficking victims, the homeless community, child care providers, disabled people, and the elderly.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to adoption:
The Royal National Children's Foundation (RNCF) is a British charity which helps children facing abuse, neglect or trauma at home by providing them with the opportunity to move into a supported education environment. The RNCF currently enables nearly 400 vulnerable and disadvantaged children to attend state and independent boarding schools and day schools. As well as paying school fees, the RNCF also funds counselling, educational school trips and holidays for vulnerable children, many of whom have never had a holiday.
The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act is a US bill that would address federal adoption incentives and would amend the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to demonstrate that the state agency has developed policies and procedures with respect to the children it is working, and which are (possibly) a victim of sex trafficking or a severe form of trafficking in persons. The bill furthermore requires states to implement the 2008 UIFSA version, which is required so the 2007 Hague Maintenance Convention can be ratified by the US.
Catholic Guardian Services (CGS) is a human services non-profit organization sponsored by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York with programs to help members of the disadvantaged population in the New York metropolitan area.
Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) is a national charity founded in 1955 that provides advice in resolving international child protection cases.