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Prioritise foster care retention over recruitment drives, campaigners urge

1 min read Social Care
Investment in foster care recruitment drives is “futile” without addressing deeper issues around retention in the role, campaigners have said.
Greater support to help foster carers feel valued is needed, campaigners say. Picture: Kaikoro/Adobe Stock
Greater support to help foster carers feel valued is needed, campaigners say. Picture: Kaikoro/Adobe Stock

In a manifesto detailing calls for the next government around foster care, The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT), the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity, urged whichever party wins the 4 July general election to “launch a comprehensive and long-term foster carer recruitment campaign”.

However, writing on LinkedIn, campaigners have argued that “investing millions more in recruitment is futile without addressing these deeper issues. Retention is central to effective recruitment, as foster carers have historically been the best recruiters of other foster carers”.

Sarah Anderson, founder of foster care information provider FosterWiki, said that she “fully supports TACT’s call to “engage with the winning party after 4 July to address fostering recruitment and retention”, but warns that previous recruitment campaigns have “overlooked retention”.

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