Ms Lauren O'Toole:

I do not think I will be able to answer the question fully, so I will ask Ms Ryan to answer too on behalf of EPIC. From my personal experience, I do not think my foster carers especially want a pat on the back when it comes to support but more that they need to have the services available to them. They have their own children and they are providing a service by being a foster parent, but the services need to be there to support them to do that properly. That is the same as saying "thank you". It is about making sure they have exactly what they need to be a foster parent and to be able to act that out fully. We in EPIC always say "care aware". People need to be aware that care experience people are in their schools, church and shop. You cannot support something that you are not aware of. It is about learning about what the care system is, its flaws and what works well in the care system, and talking directly to children in care about their lived experience. That is the best advice anyone can get. Those are the people of whom to ask the questions. That in turn will help people to help foster parents and carers. Another thing is publicising care events and so on. EPIC has a care day in February. All children in care need to know there is a day. If there is a national day for pizza, why is there not a national day for children in care?