Government must wake up to foster care crisis
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
It is that familiar problem of rising demand and shrinking supply: large numbers of foster carers retire each year as the population of children in care continues to grow and grow.
So Action for Children's campaign this month to dispel public myths about fostering and widen the pool of carers is very welcome.
Under children's minister Edward Timpson, who was brought up with more than 80 fostered children, the government has sought to cut bureaucracy for carers, most notably in making it a requirement to delegate authority to carers over day-to-day decisions. But in the crucial area of recruitment, the response has been limp. Government investment is limited to just £750,000 to help a select number of local authorities and fostering services to explore fresh ways of recruiting and retaining carers.
The problem is not just recruiting enough foster carers, but recruiting enough who are suitably equipped to care for some of society's most damaged children and young people. It is a question of quality as well as quantity. The sad fact remains that too many foster care placements break down. A Fostering Network survey of carers this year showed 61 per cent care for children who have previously had two or more placement moves, and 43 per cent had looked after at least one child who has been moved four or more times. Instability in childhood breeds chaos in early adulthood and all of its knock-on effects.
Several local recruitment drives now seek out people with the necessary communication skills, empathy and resilience – qualities indeed abundant within the children's workforce – to look after those with attachment difficulties, who self-harm and have other complex needs. But as fostering agencies consistently report, recruiting new carers requires persistence and plenty of layers of promotional activity. As Action for Children's Jane Butler argues, "you need to sow the seeds early to a new generation of people coming through".
The charity can raise awareness of its own fostering services through such a campaign, but it is really the government that should be taking the lead to promote the idea of foster care to the general public. It should run a concerted national campaign and ensure local areas give carers the appropriate training and support to minimise the chances of placements breaking down.
Elsewhere it has been eager to intervene, with major reforms under way in adoption and children's residential care. Tens of millions have been invested to recruit more adoptive parents, and the Secretary of State has – rightly – sought to expose deep-rooted problems in the residential care system, where almost half of children are placed in homes outside their local authority area, many in crime hotspots. Meanwhile, the response to the recruitment crisis in foster care has been disappointingly piecemeal. Given that three-quarters of children in care are in foster care, that just doesn't add up.
