Mark, aged 16

Mark is a streetwise teenager who has a white mother and a Dual Heritage father. Mark doesn’t see his mother and has never met his father. Mark has been brought up by his grandmother, who is white and has mental health problems.

Mark has had a number of clashes with the police, mainly involving skirmishes under the influence of alcohol with his extensive network of friends, which he generally regrets the next day, and his grandmother has become increasingly irritated by her home being used as the local youth club. She has recently come out of hospital after a hip operation and no longer feels able to look after Mark.

Mark needs a foster family who are able to provide a home for him until he is 17 or 18 and can move on into independent living as a young adult. There may also be an option of his foster placement continuing for a further 3 years supported by the local authority as Mark has expressed an interest in going to college to study music to further his ambition of becoming a DJ.