A Yougov poll for the charity found that many people were put off as they wrongly believed they had no control over the type of children they would be matched with. They were also unaware of the different types of foster care, such as short-term and weekend care.
Barnardo’s has released the findings to promote its Fostering and Adoption Week (18 to 24 January) and raise awareness of the national shortage of 10,000 foster carers.
The charity’s chief executive Martin Narey said that the death of baby Peter Connelly in Haringey had increased demand for fostering services nationally.
He said: "The huge shortfall of foster carers amounts to a crisis as it is vital that stable and secure foster placements are available. The government needs to invest urgently in a hard-hitting national recruitment drive for foster carers, it is past overdue."
Brenda Farrell, Barnardo’s UK assistant director for family placement, added that potential fosterers have a great deal of say over the type of children they foster.
She said: "There is a lengthy assessment process, which identifies the wishes of the carer and highlights their particular areas of expertise."
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