Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is seriously considering becoming a foster mum now that she has left office.
The long-serving politician told the Daily Record that she was "thinking long and hard" about fostering and that he feels she has a "burning" duty to help care-experienced young people.
Ms Sturgeon also spoke of how she had cried for those from the sector who had tragically taken their own lives and also sounded a warning for her successor Humza Yousaf by saying she would become a loud and clear critic if promises made to children in care are not met.
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In her resignation speech in February, Sturgeon said she would continue to champion care-experienced young people to ensure they “grow up nurtured and loved”.
In office, she announced the Government would “Keep the Promise” to this vulnerable group after a damning report highlighted the “separation, trauma, stigma and pain” in the care system.
In her article for the Record, she wrote: “There are few, if any, encounters lodged more firmly in my heart than those I had with young people who were, or had been, in the care ‘system’.
“These conversations would often bring me to tears. I heard from young people who had been separated from their brothers and sisters when taken into care – in some cases losing touch completely. I heard of suicides and attempted suicides.
“I heard about the use of physical restraint in children’s homes. I heard from young people about how worthless it made them feel to be sent to ‘respite’ while their foster family went on holiday.”
She continued: “I was persuaded that the ‘system’ – despite the best efforts of the dedicated men and women who work in it – was broken. We – government, society – too often let our most vulnerable children down at the time they need us most.”
Central to her Government’s agenda in this area was the £500million Whole Family Wellbeing Fund to help families stay together.
She wrote: “I know more than most how tight public finances are, but for the sake of the children whose lives could be transformed by it, I urge the government to make delivery of this fund a priority.
“I know my successor as First Minister is as committed to The Promise as I am. But if I ever get the sense that government is not prioritising the change it demands, I will say so – loudly and clearly.
“My promise – for as long as I live – is to be a voice for those in care or at risk of care, and to do everything I can to make sure all young people grow up surrounded by love.”
Ms Sturgeon said in 2019 that fostering children “may be something [her and her husband] would think about” when she was no longer First Minister.
She went further in her Record piece: “I have spoken before about the possibility of fostering myself in future. Obviously, that is something I must think long and hard about, but it was hearing about the impact good foster care can have in the life of a child that motivated me to even consider it.”
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