Evidence of foster carers being "blackmailed" by social workers to take children was also uncovered. Vicky Swain, campaigns manager for the Fostering Network, said some foster carers spoke of social workers trying to "guilt trip" them into taking a child they were not approved for by saying the child had nowhere else to go. "Experienced foster carers can resist the pressure and say no, less experienced ones find this harder," she said.
The problem is compounding the shortage of foster carers. "Foster carers are leaving because they can't cope," said Swain.
Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, said he was "extremely concerned" by the findings. "It is quite unsatisfactory that foster parents should be used for children they're not approved for, no matter how difficult a situation the local authority is facing.
"I would expect the regulator to take such a report extremely seriously.
If there are social workers behaving like this it raises issues about their conduct, which should be dealt with.
"Foster carers have a duty to make their local authority aware of such practices," he added, "and if they're not satisfied with the response to pursue it with the General Social Care Council."
Nearly half of local authority foster carers said they had looked after at least one child from outside their approval range in the last year, according to the Fostering Network survey.
Swain said: "Foster carers need a diverse range of skills to look after children, which is why they are approved for certain ages. The shortage of foster carers means people approved to look after babies are having to look after teenagers. They look after them but whether they are best placed to meet their needs is another question."
Some foster carers had more than 30 placements they were not approved for in the last year, she added. And in one case a foster carer reported having a child sleeping on their sofa because all their rooms were full.
A separate ICM poll of more than 1,000 adults, commissioned by the Fostering Network, found that more than three-quarters of people ruled themselves out of fostering, when they could be helping to meet the 10,000 shortfall across the UK.
- www.fostering.net
- Barnardo's is marking Foster Care Fortnight with daily blogs, online web diaries written by two foster carers in different parts of the UK.
www.barnardos.org.uk/fosteringblogs.
