The Adolescent and Children’s Trust
The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT) is the largest charity providing fostering and adoption services across the United Kingdom. The charity works in nine offices across England, Wales and Scotland. As well as providing fostering or adoptive families for some of the most vulnerable young people, TACT campaigns on behalf of children and young people in care, carers, their families and adoptive families across the UK.
History
TACT was set up in 1992 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 and most recently with Parents for Children (PfC) in 2009.
Mission, Vision and Values
Mission: We are harnessing the strength of families, carers, communities and organisations to unconditionally support and encourage children and young people to achieve their full potential.
Vision: Together we are creating a world where every young person is raised by people who care; where communities flourish because we help young people build lives full of opportunity and choice.
Values:
- Aspirational: by helping others to grow, we grow ourselves.
- Passionate: we are determined to keep improving what we do. We will ambitiously pursue the best outcomes for everyone we work with.
- Engaged: we want to listen well and respond quickly to the people we work with - children and young people, their birth families, carers, our staff and supporters.
- Fair and equitable: we will be open and transparent, communicating what we do and why we do it, based on equality and respect for all.
- Beyond profit: we will make every decision based on what is best for children and young people. We will deliver excellent services as efficiently as possible in order to continually invest in the people we work with
References
- England and Wales' Charity Commission website
- TACT voted one of The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For