Prioritising permanence: Kevin Williams, chief executive, The Fostering Network

Kevin Williams, the new chief executive of The Fostering Network, is keen to emphasise the often overlooked role that foster care can play in creating permanence for vulnerable young people. So he is quick to jump on my slip of the tongue that more needs to be done to improve adoption support. "It's part of the problem," says Williams, who took up the post at the start of June. "Too often, people link permanence with adoption. But for many children, adoption will not be the right placement move."

For Williams, whose voice has both a soft tone but steely edge, finding the best way of delivering permanence should be the determining factor in deciding what care placement suits a child.

"The route into permanence will vary for different groups of children - we need to look at what is best for the individual," he says.

"For some, that will be adoption. But for a large number, another form will be right, such as a resident's order or special guardianship, while for others, it will be for foster care to be their permanent placement."

Williams' defence of the role of foster care in the permanence agenda should be seen in the context of the government unveiling new measures to force local authorities to form regional adoption agencies in a bid to boost the number of children adopted. The move reinforced the view many in the sector have that ministers still see adoption as the main route to permanence for looked-after children.

"The government has an agenda for adoption at the moment, but for many young people adoption won't be appropriate. We have to see foster care as a route to permanence. And it has to be until they are in adulthood and ready to move into independence," he adds.

One policy that should deliver greater permanence for foster children is the right to remain in a foster placement until they turn 21.

The so-called Staying Put right was hailed at the time of its introduction in April 2014 as a landmark policy that would give stability to thousands of vulnerable young people who would otherwise be expected to move into independent living from the age of 18.

A year on, concerns have been raised by some in the sector - among them Natasha Finlayson, chief executive of the Who Cares? Trust - that the number of young people supported through Staying Put arrangements is disappointingly low, with the blame being put at the door of local authorities.

The policy, which Williams describes as a "really positive move", was campaigned for by his predecessor at the network, Robert Tapsfield. However, Williams admits there have been "tensions" over how it has been implemented.

"At the moment, local authorities are implementing it differently," he says. "There are different financial models and some of those are a disincentive to foster carers, so we have to make sure foster carers who have supported young people to reach adulthood are not penalised as a result of the fantastic work they do."

Lack of funding

The fact local authorities are paying different Staying Put fees is unsurprising considering how stretched local authority finances are. In addition, children's services leaders say the policy has been underfunded by government.

Williams admits one of the problems is that while local authorities fund the placement, other parts of the system, such as the courts and NHS, are the ones that see the benefit in reduced workloads. Even so, he says only by helping young people stay in foster care longer can they move into adulthood in a "more stable way" and "break the cycle" of bad life outcomes for many children who end up in care. "It makes economic sense - I'm convinced it is good for the state for young people to remain in foster care for longer," he adds.

Although Williams does not offer any quick fixes to overcome the local implementation problems, he says one area that must be addressed is the cliff edge in financial support when a foster carer moves into a Staying Put arrangement.

He says: "The intention of the policy is for young people to stay in foster care for longer and we need to find a practical way to make sure that happens, and that it works for foster carers and local authorities.

"The worst thing for the policy would be for it to be disincentivised so there is no take-up or that there is a lower take-up than there should be. I'm convinced that the desire from social workers and social care managers is that young people do remain in their foster homes for as long as possible."

Williams' passion for foster care goes back to his time as chief executive of The Adolescent and Children's Trust (Tact), the independent fostering and adoption agency he led for 12 years up to 2013 when he joined learning disability charity DGSM yourChoice.

"I'd felt I'd achieved as much as I could within the organisation - I wanted to try something different," he says of his decision to leave the sector.

However, after overseeing a merger of the charity that meant there was no role for him, Williams saw the opportunity to move back into children's services when the opportunity arose to lead The Fostering Network.

"Children's services is where my passion is - that's where I can make the greatest difference," he adds.

Top of his priority list is ensuring foster carers get the best training and ongoing support so that they can make the biggest difference to the lives of children and young people. He says "huge advances" have been made in improving the educational outcomes for fostered children, and hails the work of the network's education champions in London as a programme he'd like to see rolled out nationally because "the evidence we're gathering is that it leads to better outcomes".

Williams is also keen to develop a similar approach around training foster carers to support the mental health needs of children.

"Caring for children who have suffered abuse and neglect is really complex," he says. "We're dealing with human emotions, divided loyalties between birth families and foster carers, and often the state's intervention. It's complex and challenging."

In recognition of this, Williams wants to see developed "personalised packages of support" for carers that are based on meeting the needs of individual children.

He wants to see a similar approach to that used in workplace appraisals in business where development plans are based around a person's training needs. "In foster care, we need to have training that is personalised and focused on their needs to develop and grow."

Last month, the Who Cares? Trust's Natasha Finlayson said the quality of foster carers was the single biggest challenge facing the care system. She said too many were still being approved who were not up to the job.

Williams accepts the quality varies "as it does with a whole range of different professionals", but refutes Finlayson's suggestion that it is the major challenge. "The vast majority of foster carers do a fantastic job looking after really complex children, who often have been abused or neglected.

"We want to make sure that young people are supported appropriately and that foster carers receive the right ongoing training and support so that they can meet the needs of children."

Collaborative working

However, Williams says there is a shortage of foster carers with the right skills to meet the needs of all children and believes local authorities and voluntary fostering agencies need to work more collaboratively over finding the right placements.

"We need to be much smarter in using the totality of foster carers in a given area, regardless of whether they are supported from the local authority or independent sector," he says.

Part of this process needs to be reviewing the financial arrangements that are made, he adds, but says such issues should be looked at as part of a bigger picture in terms of the costs in getting a placement wrong.

"The large cost is when the placement is initially made and in the disruption of a placement. If we're not getting those right, there will be a higher cost to the local authority and to the state in general, as well as a high cost in terms of continual damage to those children."

The principle underpinning the government's plans for creating regional adoption agencies also resonates with fostering, says Williams. The net should be cast as wide as possible to find the right carer to offer them the chance of a stable home and not be limited to just a small pool of local carers, he adds.

"It is really important that we have a mixed economy workforce in terms of the agencies, and that children get the right placement for their needs," he says.

"That may mean we need to get smarter in terms of commissioning practices on a regional basis."

- June 2015: Chief executive, The Fostering Network
- 2013: Chief executive, DGSM yourChoice
- 2001: Chief executive, The Adolescent and Children's Trust
- 1999: Jointly commissioned service manager, The Isle of Wight Council
- 1996: Intake team manager, social services, Berkshire/Reading Council
- 1994: Fieldwork manager, social services, Wiltshire County Council
- 1992: Assistant fieldwork manager, social services, Wiltshire County
Council
- 1989: Assistant children's home manager, Wiltshire County Council
- 1986: Senior residential leader, Wiltshire County Council
- 1984: Residential social worker, Kent County Council
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