CYP Now - Incoming ADCS president calls for action on profit-making in fostering

The woman who will take over as president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services next month has called for government to prioritise looking into the issue of profit-making in the fostering system.

Alison Michalska, who takes over the presidency of the ADCS from Dave Hill on 1 April, said little is currently known about the remit, timescales or format that a "stocktake" of the fostering system, announced last year by children's minister Edward Timpson, will take.

But, writing in the latest edition of CYP Now, she said the system is coming under increasing financial pressure, which is resulting in increased competition for new recruits between different local authorities and independent fostering agencies (IFAs).

"A ban on profiting from the provision of child protection services has been upheld by the government yet a handful of IFAs continue to operate on a for-profit basis," she said.

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