The UK is facing a severe shortage of foster carers (Picture: Google)
Ministers have been urged to ‘rocket boost’ fostering in order to tackle a severe shortage of carers, the Children’s Commissioner for England has said.
Dame Rachel de Souza suggested the Government learn lessons from its Homes for Ukraine scheme in order to access an ‘untapped well’ of possible carers.
The UK needs 7,200 more foster families, with the problem being particularly acute in England where 6,000 are required, according to the Fostering Network charity.
Dame Rachel warned bureaucracy may be a problem, citing figures suggesting nearly three quarters of people who complete a fostering form do not go on to look after children.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said the government urgently needs to increase funding to the fostering sector
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Children’s Minister said: ‘Of course children need to be safe and of course all the checks need to be carried out, but 71% of people dropping out seems very high to me.
‘I urge ministers and I urge the Government to run a national fostering campaign. It’s really, really important that we rocket boost fostering.’
The MacAlister review of children’s social care in England last year called for £2.6 billion of new spending over four years.
But the Government faced criticism for announcing £200 million of investment in response.
Children’s minister Claire Coutinho said £11 billion is spent on the children’s social care system overall, with a further £2.3 billion coming in the last autumn statement.
But she said the £200 million is for testing ‘really ambitious’ plans to respond to the MacAlister review as she insisted the funding was not falling short.
‘You can’t just fund a system with money, you do need to make sure the reforms work properly,’ she told the Today programme, being guest edited to highlight issues in fostering.
She argued recruitment is ‘one of the biggest challenges’, saying last year 138,000 people made inquiries to become a foster carer but only 6% of them became one.
‘People call up and say they want to be a foster carer and then they don’t necessarily get that hand-holding to make what is ultimately a big decision in your life,’ the minister said, pointing to a pilot aimed at alleviating the issue.
Billy Grace, director of independent fostering group Therapeutic Fostering, says prospective carers don’t tend to realise how in-depth the fostering assessment is and find the process far too invasive.
‘The assessment looks at all family members to determine if they are in support of the applicant,’ he told Metro. ‘The wider support networks are looked into- sometimes previous partners, criminal convictions, medical histories and a review of their finances.
‘Retention of foster carers is a huge issue as many of them feel undervalued and unsupported.’
Mr Grace said part of the reason behind the shortage of carers is the fact that a lot of agencies are trying to recruit from the same narrow pool of people.
He added that there is ‘No doubt whatsoever that fostering needs to be recognised as a career and carers should be given commensurate rates of pay and employment protection.’
Only 6% of people who apply to become foster carers end up completing their application (Picture: Getty)
In response to the Children’s Commissioner’s remarks over the Homes For Ukraine scheme, Mr Grace said it was a good thing that the government had succeeded in making it socially acceptable to house Ukrainian refugees but remained sceptical that the campaign’s success would transfer to the fostering sector.
‘I’m worried about the protection afforded to some of these vulnerable families,’ he said. ‘As outside of crucial vetting, recognition needs to take place at government level that not everyone is suitable to be a foster carer.
‘It’s a specialist role and needs professional support that requires continuous funding.’
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The UK urgently needs over 7000 extra foster families to take care of children in need.