The Rules Don’t Apply to Everyone: Unchecked Power – Part 2

This week on Foster Care Uncovered, Sarah and Louise go from the supposedly boring world of new fostering standards to one of the most uncomfortable questions in children’s social care: what happens to the truth when one side holds most of the power?

Can power create a culture where the truth becomes… flexible? Not necessarily because anyone is deliberately lying, but because when you hold the authority, do you become unconsciously more confident in your own version of events? What happens when conversations are remembered differently, records are disputed, explanations are dismissed, and the person with the professional authority gets to decide which version carries the most weight?

We also get stuck into the new draft Fostering Quality Standards and ask whether they really change anything, whether foster carers are genuinely being recognised as professional partners, and why standards seem to demand so much from carers while accountability for services can feel rather more optional.

Does power change how we see the truth? And when the people with the most authority are also the people judging whether they got it right, who is checking them?

This one gets uncomfortable, and that’s exactly where Foster Care Uncovered likes to be.

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JOIN FOSTERWIKI TODAY https://fosterwiki.com/register/

If you'd like to chat about this episode or any of our past episodes, feel free to reach out to us at info@fosterwiki.com. We’d love to hear from you!

All views shared in this podcast reflect the personal opinions of the hosts alone. They are not intended as factual assertions about any person or organisation, nor do they represent the views of any employer or professional body.

Do Social Workers Have Too Much Power? What Unchecked Power Does to Ordinary People.

This week Sarah and Louise ask a difficult but important question: what happens when any profession is given significant authority without enough challenge, accountability or independent scrutiny?

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, this is not an attack on social workers. Far from it. Thousands of dedicated social workers care deeply about children and families and do extraordinary work every day.

But Foster Care Uncovered has always been about having honest conversations about the realities of the care system, including the uncomfortable ones.

Sarah and Louise explore the psychology of power, how unchecked authority can affect decision-making, and why foster carers, adopters, kinship carers and birth families across the country have repeatedly described similar experiences of feeling unheard, dismissed or powerless when challenging professional decisions.

They discuss the difference between criticising a profession and examining a system, the importance of accountability, and why questioning power structures is essential in any service where decisions have life-changing consequences for children and the people caring for them.

Plus, there’s the usual Foster Care Uncovered mix of honesty, humour and a little “Word Salad Corner” - where Sarah and Louise attempt to translate professional language that sometimes manages to say very little while using a lot of words.

A thought-provoking episode about power, accountability, human behaviour and why protecting children means being brave enough to look at the whole system.

Listen, reflect, and join the conversation.

Useful Links

JOIN FOSTERWIKI TODAY https://fosterwiki.com/register/

If you'd like to chat about this episode or any of our past episodes, feel free to reach out to us at info@fosterwiki.com. We’d love to hear from you!

All views shared in this podcast reflect the personal opinions of the hosts alone. They are not intended as factual assertions about any person or organisation, nor do they represent the views of any employer or professional body.

While the Westminster set enjoy salmon blinis, caviar and £100 bottles of Pol Roger, the people holding children’s social care together are exhausted, undervalued and walking away.

This week on Foster Care Uncovered, Sarah and Louise look at the politics behind children’s social care reform, the arrival of new leadership, and whether the promise of listening to people beyond Westminster will finally reach the frontline.

We ask whether glossy announcements, photo opportunities and symbolic reforms are replacing the difficult work of actually fixing a system in crisis.

Then we tackle the uncomfortable conversation nobody likes to have: are foster carers being exploited by the very system that depends on them?

From hidden costs and emotional labour, to fear, power imbalance and feeling disposable when things go wrong, we explore what happens when a workforce built on relationships is left without enough power, protection or voice.

Plus… we investigate the important questions. Who was at the party? Who got the blinis? And has anyone remembered to ask the foster carers?

If you'd like to chat about this episode or any of our past episodes, feel free to reach out to us at info@fosterwiki.com. We’d love to hear from you!

All views shared in this podcast reflect the personal opinions of the hosts alone. They are not intended as factual assertions about any person or organisation, nor do they represent the views of any employer or professional body.

Useful Links

JOIN FOSTERWIKI TODAY https://fosterwiki.com/register/