One challenge is the estimated shortage of 10,000 carers, placing morepressure on those who do foster. It is therefore crucial that we provideadequate support for both foster carers and the children in theircare.
Developing integrated centres for children offers new opportunities tobuild foster carer support into mainstream services everywhere. Embracedwithin the recent Care Matters green paper, integrated centres couldprovide a joined-up approach that brings together social workers, intheir formal relationship with foster carers, alongside the widersupport services of carers groups, mentoring or buddy schemes, respitecare and independent advice that the Fostering Network advocates. Carerscan be very isolated, but children's centres can be enormously helpfulin bringing foster carers into contact with parents, ensuring that thechildren who they care for are getting the same opportunities as thechildren in the community around them.
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