Three quarters of foster carers leave placements after turning 18, new research shows
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Just a quarter of care leavers remain with their foster carers after turning 18, new research by the Fostering Network shows.
In its State of the Nation Impact Report 2020, the organisation says that this year 26 per cent of 19- and 20-year-olds remained living with foster carers compared with 25 per cent in 2019.
“Too many young people across the UK are missing out on the opportunity to stay with their foster family until age 21,” the report states, despite noting that Staying Put arrangements “have the potential to transform how thousands of young people start adulthood”.
The report adds that 45 per cent of foster carers maintain contact with a former foster children compared with just 40 per cent in 2019.
It adds that according to a survey for more than 4,000 foster carers carried out as part of the research, one in four said they had been prevented in some way from keeping connected with former foster children.
The Fostering Network states that “these statistics reveal a prevailing system that does not fully value children’s relationships with those significant to them”.
“Although in some cases there may be a good reason to cease contact, the high number of people losing touch suggests a culture that fails to value children’s relationships,” it adds.
The report also highlights that 79 per cent of long-term foster carers said they are usually or always allowed to make appropriate decisions surrounding their foster child compared with just 62 per cent last year.
Some 29 per cent feel that social workers do not treat them as equal compared with 32 per cent in 2019.
“Year on year, foster carers report not being treated as equal members by the whole team around the child. This needs to change,” the report adds.
It also calls for better remuneration for foster carers, adding that in both 2019 and 2020, just over 40 per cent of foster carers “feel that allowances do not reflect the true cost of looking after a child”.
The report comes just 24 hours after Ofsted’s director of social care Yvette Stanley raised concerns over a lack of sufficiency of foster carers.
Speaking about the inspectorate’s annual report, Stanley said: “The absence of a surplus of foster carers means there is very little choice, particularly for siblings, teenagers and disabled children. We also know that the foster care population are slightly older and will want to retire so really we need to build up the recruitment of foster carers.”