UK: "Wanted: single men to serve on the fostering front line"

Article here. Excerpt:

'In his baggy jeans, he studies his fingernails to avoid making eye contact. He is evidently not keen to talk much, but what he does say is testament to how much Graham has turned his life around.
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“Some young men say that they cannot relate to women because they have been abused by, or in major conflict with, them. In these cases the best option may be to live in an all-male household..."
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But men prepared to work with children are in short supply. Research by the charity Action for Children has found that many are not coming forward because they fear being labelled paedophiles —a fear borne out by the results of a survey by the charity last year, in which 40 per cent of respondents said that single men should be banned from adopting. In addition, some people still see caring as “women’s work”.

Worse, men who are involved sometimes say that the system seems geared against them. Some male foster carers complain that they cannot take part in training sessions and professional development opportunities, as these are often held during traditional office hours. They also say that the content and delivery of sessions does not take their needs into account. Men who foster as part of a couple often feel that they are considered “second-class” by other professionals working with a child, who overlook them in favour of a female partner.
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"Williams says that society needs to “get away from the idea that men are deadbeats”. He agrees that single men face barriers to fostering. “There is a lot of stereotyping — I rang up the school once and they said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll wait to talk to your wife later.’ I said, ‘You’ll be waiting a long time because I haven’t got one!”'