This October, we are proudly celebrating Black History Month at TACT. We believe this is vital as an annual space to celebrate, promote and understand the Black experience, heritage and culture, both today and throughout history. 

What’s Black History Month?

Black History Month was first celebrated in the UK in October 1987, on the 150th anniversary of Caribbean emancipation. Organised by Ghanaian analyst Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, it came out of an identity crisis he noticed spreading throughout London in both adults and children of African and Afro-Caribbean heritage. As the Special projects coordinator of the Ethnic Minorities Unit of the Greater London Council, he devised a yearly celebration of the contributions of Africa, Africans and people of African descent to world civilisation from past to present.

Although Black voices should be equally amplified every day of the year, the truth that cannot be ignored is that our society continues to offer a privileged space for those with white skin. More work must be done to overcome systemic injustices which are ingrained into the UK’s cultures and practices. We know that there is more we can do at TACT to further racial equality and full inclusion across our organisation.

TACT commit to:

• Being a safe space for our black staff, foster carers and children
• Making sure our staff and carer groups are reflective of the communities they serve
• Ensuring a safe space for all staff to have conversations about racism and anti-racism
• Having difficult, honest and open conversations
• Involving and listening to our carers, children and young people and reflecting their views, ideas and concerns in all of our services and public statements
• Listening, learning and changing our practice as a result
• Developing bespoke training on racism and anti-racism for all staff and carers and to include staff and carers from all backgrounds in creating this 
• Speaking out publicly on issues such as stop and search, institutional racism and discrimination within the care system

To read our full Black Lives Matter Strategy and Action Plan, click here.

We want to ensure that we build on the progress we have made so far. 40% of our Area and Deputy Area Managers are BAME staff but at Senior Leadership level we have no BAME staff. We have a diverse carer cohort, but need to focus and be proactive in some regions to reflect the local population in our carer cohort.

 

We are in need of more BAME foster carers.

Compared with the UK population, there is a disproportionate number of BAME children and young people in foster care. Whilst children and young people can be matched with carers of a different ethnicity to them, studies show that it is always preferable they remain in an environment where their heritage, religion and culture is fully understood and reflected as much as possible, ensuring it is not lost.

As of 31 March 2019, an Ofsted analysis found that 99 authorities – 68% of the 146 analysed – had a shortage or undersupply of foster carers from a BAME background. At TACT, we are committed to achieving full racial diversity in our carer pool so that we can best meet the needs of our children and young people.

 

If you or anyone you know could be a foster carer, please enquire on the right.

For more information on the #BLM movement within TACT, including resources to read and watch, click here.

To read our full Black Lives Matter Strategy and Action Plan, click here.

For the full stats on BAME children within foster care, click here.