More and more social workers are using the internet to place children with foster carers and adopters.

According to the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAFS), the number of children profiled on their Be My Parent service has increased by 37 per cent in the last 12 months. The website has also seen the number of videos of children on the website double.

Be My Parent is a family finding service for children in the UK. The service's website and its monthly magazine profiles children who are waiting for adoption when local attempts to place them with a foster or adopted family have failed.

David Holmes, BAAF'S chief executive, told Community Care that he believes the rise is due to a shift in attitude amongst those in social work jobs towards the use of digital media.

"Where once it was viewed with suspicion and distrust, now they are realising that it is a powerful resource in family finding," he said.

Holmes revealed that a recent survey of families in BAAF's showed that 83 per cent of families had said they had found the videos to be 'very helpful'. The survey also found that 96 per cent of social workers considered them to be valuable.

"The internet has also opened the doors to using video to find families for children, which has been hugely successful. A three or four minute video can show the essence of a child.

"Our research shows that children who have videos made for them have an increase in enquiries from prospective adopters," he added.