There is a shortage of foster carers across the UK and independent fostering agencies (IFAs) are playing an increasingly prominent role in placing children.
Record numbers of children are entering care but more foster carers are leaving the sector than joining and applications to become carers are at their lowest level in several years.
Foster charity The Fostering Network says 6,500 more foster families are needed across the UK to meet demand.
The situation is particularly stark in England where numbers of children in care have shot up but numbers of fostering households – especially those overseen by local authorities – have declined year on year.
The latest fostering data from Ofsted shows that at the end of March 2023, there were around 43,400 fostering households in England.
Local authority fostering households still make up the largest proportion at 46% but the data shows the use of IFAs for mainstream foster care is increasing with the sector now accounting for 43% of fostering households in 2023, up from 40% in 2019.
When it comes to filled mainstream places, IFAs accounted for 47% in 2023, up from 42% in 2019.
Stable number of IFAs
The shift is largely down to a drop in the number of local authority households over the past five years while IFA numbers have remained relatively stable.
As of March this year, there were 332 IFAs in England registered with Ofsted – four more than the previous year.
The majority – 96% – were rated “good” or “outstanding” with just 1% rated “inadequate”.
IFAs vary widely in size and type. They can be owned by voluntary or private sector organisations but the latest Ofsted data shows 85% are privately owned and account for 90% of all IFA places.
Tight local authority budgets and workforce shortages have put pressure on in-house fostering services and led to increasing reliance on IFAs to help find foster placements.
However, there is concern about the ever-increasing role of the private sector especially when it comes to the cost of placements.
In its 2022 report on children’s social care, the Competitions and Markets Authority called for government support to help councils expand in-house foster care and reduce reliance on IFAs.
Foster carers can choose to apply to local authorities or go through an agency and both routes have pros and cons.
Local authorities generally seek to place children in house first so foster carers on their books may be less likely to have vacancies.
However, agencies offer larger allowances and the level of support – especially practical support – is often higher with a better ratio of supervising social workers to foster carers.
Agencies are also more likely to specialise in placing children with special needs, challenging behaviour and large sibling groups and offer a wider range of placements including long-term and parent-and-child foster care.
Many foster carers offer multiple types of care but this is much higher in the IFA sector with 85% of households offering different types of care compared with 44% in the local authority sector.
At the end of March 2023, 42% of IFA households were approved to care for three or more children compared with 27% of local authority households.
Other factors foster carers might consider include the fact agencies often cover a wider area – usually more than one local authority – so they may need to travel further for meetings, contact with birth families and school runs.
Value for money
The Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers (NAFP), which represents IFAs, argues agencies do provide value for money and are particularly good at supporting and retaining foster carers, including those caring for children with the most complex needs.
In the wake of the general election the sector is awaiting more details on the Labour government’s plans for children’s social care.
The previous administration’s Stable Homes Built on Lovepolicy included the creation of regional care co-operatives to oversee planning and commissioning of fostering, residential and secure care. The concept is set to be piloted in two areas this year.
Many – but not all – councils already work together to commission external foster placements but the size of consortia vary greatly.
Ensuring a more consistent approach to commissioning IFAs and others should help reduce costs to the public purse but there are concerns it could disadvantage smaller, voluntary sector providers.
The idea is independent sector providers will be involved in regional decision-making.
An NAFP position paper on regional care co-operatives says local authorities’ tendency to favour in-house placements is not necessarily in the best interests of children but fears this may not change under a new structure.
It calls for a level playing field, which would see placement finding separated from local authority fostering services and handled by a commissioning and placements hub.
Meanwhile council fostering services – which are currently inspected as part of local authority children’s services inspections – should be required to register with Ofsted.
“As with local authority children’s homes, local authority fostering services should be required to register with Ofsted so they are inspected using the same framework that is applied to IFAs thus providing a more effective way of comparing quality across all fostering services so that children do not receive services measured against different standards,” says the document.
Nottingham agency receives fourth 'outstanding' rating in a row
Nottingham-based independent fostering agency Fostering People is one of only a handful of agencies to have achieved four consecutive “outstanding” ratings from Ofsted.
The agency provides a range of placements including short-term and long-term foster care, parent-and-child and emergency care.
At its last inspection in June 2023, when it was again rated “outstanding” across the board, the agency had more than 340 approved fostering households and nearly 470 children in placements.
Inspectors found foster carers were knowledgeable, compassionate, highly-motivated and dedicated to the children they look after. “We have seen examples where foster parents have changed children’s lives,” says the inspection report.
The inspection team found children made “fantastic progress” with carers going out of their way to ensure they met children’s needs and they felt safe. “Children can be children again. They are supported to grow in confidence, develop their interests and have enjoyable and exciting experiences,” says the report.
Foster parents and staff receive training in attachment theory, understanding of adverse childhood experiences and “therapeutic parenting”. Careful matching and consistent support contributed to the success of most placements.
“There are a relatively low number of unplanned endings, given the size of the service,” says the report. “In many circumstances foster parents have said that they have been able to continue to care for children in the most difficult circumstances due to the amazing support they receive from the agency.”
The agency exceeded the required level of unannounced visits to speak with foster parents and children and all areas of care were monitored closely.
“Children are observed and communicated with regularly and they have very good relationships with supervising social workers,” says the report. “This means that the supervising social workers know children exceptionally well.”
Leaders and managers also knew families well and inspectors said the agency’s “commitment to advocating for and consulting with children and young people jumped out”.
They found the agency had successfully implemented the Mockingbird Family Model which sees six to 10 fostering households supported by experienced carers in a “hub home”. This contributed to placement stability and enabled children to become part of a “fostering extended family”, giving them a sense of belonging and helping them make friends.
Registered manager Oliver Kirkland said the agency’s top rating was a credit to “our amazing young people and foster parents”. “Our long-standing team is unwaveringly dedicated to providing positive outcomes for the children we support,” he said.
Inspection shorts
Education Hundreds of state-funded schools feel the benefits of inspection do not outweigh the negative aspects, show the latest results from post-inspection surveys by Ofsted. Responses from nearly 3,500 schools visited or inspected between April 2023 and March 2024 show around three quarters agree or strongly agree that the benefits of inspection outweigh the negative aspect but 17% or nearly 600 schools disagreed or strongly disagreed while others did not know.
Youth justice Out-of-area placements are hindering the support youth justice services can offer to care-experienced children, according to a report by HM Inspectorate of Probation. The report describes how a lack of secure and therapeutic placements means young people are more likely to be placed far from home, increasing safeguarding risks. Youth justice teams said some councils placed children far from home to remove risks but this made supervision “more challenging”.
Early years The number of childcare providers registered with Ofsted has reduced by 1,440 in the past year, shows the latest data. The reduction is mainly due to a drop in the number of childminders, which decreased by 1,340 since March 2023 to 26,500. However, the 5% decline in childminder numbers was lower than in previous years due to a lower number leaving the profession. The data shows that as of March this year 97% of all childcare providers were judged “good” or “outstanding”, up 1% on the previous year.
Health Birmingham Children’s Hospital has been told to make improvements to urgent and emergency services following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission. Inspectors found staff were kind, considerate and working hard but found the quality of care had declined in part due to understaffing. The overall rating for the department went down from “good” to “requires improvement”. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said an action plan was in place and it was making progress.
Youth justice Agencies in Lancashire need to strengthen support for children affected by serious youth violence, including those most at risk. A joint inspection by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and HM Inspectorate of Probation found local partners had a shared commitment to addressing youth violence and a strong focus on prevention and early intervention. However, the report found professionals did not always see children as children first or recognise the increased vulnerability of those with special needs.
