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Foster carer numbers drop by almost 2,000 over four years

1 min read Social Care
The number of foster carers in England has decreased by almost 2,000 since 2020, latest figures from Ofsted show.
Research found most council staff considered long-term foster care a positive permanence option. Picture:
One in five children in foster care now live with family and friends foster carers, figures show - NDABCreativity/Adobe Stock

Across local authority, independent and family and friends foster carers, the figures show a decline in numbers of active foster carers from 44,540 to 42,615 over the four-year period.

“At the end of March 2024, family and friends households (sometimes known as kinship foster care) accounted for 21% of all active fostering households, an increase from 16% in 2020. Family and friends households accounted for 50% of all newly approved fostering households as at 31 March 2024,” states the report.

It also highlights an increase of mainstream foster carers carrying out the role through independent foster care agencies (IFA) since 2020 but highlights that over the last year, there has been a 2% in the number of IFA households.

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