25 - Private fostering information through your TV set

 

Information on the support Dudley Council can give to people involved in private foster care, is now available through Digi TV. The innovative system allows residents to access information and contact the council 24 hours a day through their digital TV set.

 

Private fostering refers to situations where a child aged under 16 (or 18 if they are disabled) is cared for and provided with accommodation for 28 days or more by an adult who is not a close relative. It is normally a private agreement between a parent and another adult. 

 

Dudley’s Digi TV site, which has already received more than 50,000 hits since its launch last October, now features information and guidance on how people involved in private fostering can access council support.  The site also stresses that anyone who is privately fostering or is arranging for their child to be privately fostered must notify the council.

 

This council support can include financial help, information about local support networks for carers and potential additional benefits.

 

“Dudley Council does offer support and advice to people involved in private fostering arrangements. While we don’t want to get in the way of any private arrangements I hope people will visit the Digi TV site to find out whether they could benefit from any of this support that is on offer.”

Digi TV allows residents with digital interactive television packages such as Sky and Virgin Media (including Telewest and NTL) to access services via the interactive button on their remote control.

 

Through the service people can also report things such as litter, potholes, vandalism, bin collections, council housing repairs, abandoned vehicles and street light problems through the new system. Residents can also find out more about the council’s services by requesting benefits leaflets, recycling services, vote forms along with direct debit, blue badge, school register and housing register application forms. On top of all this, people can search for jobs and make appointments to visit their GP.

 

Dudley is one of the first authorities in the midlands and the first in the Black Country to take on Digi TV and people will be able to access the Dudley site from anywhere in the country.

 

The Dudley Digi TV site also includes information on the council’s services in relation to other aspects of care and caring, jobs and careers, home and housing, leisure and culture, transport and streets, rubbish and recycling, education and learning and community safety.

 

To access the site people simply need to press the interactive button on their remote controls and follow the interactive services through to local services. Users can fill in their details to request information using the control in the same way as texting from a mobile phone.