Welsh councils launch foster carer recruitment campaign

Foster Wales, the national network of 22 Welsh local authority fostering teams, hopes the campaign will help recruit at least 800 foster families by 2026 to address the shortfall between the number of children in care and available foster carers.

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The campaign – called “Bring something to the table” – will share the experiences of foster carers and highlight the difference they make to vulnerable children’s lives.

Adverts will run on TV, streaming, radio and digital services and have been designed following consultation with carers, children’s services professionals and care-experienced young people.

Currently, Wales is in the process of a whole system change for children’s services. The changes proposed in the 2021 co-operation agreement between the Welsh government and Plaid Cymru made a clear commitment to “eliminate private profit from the care of looked after children”.

This means, by 2027, care of looked-after children in Wales will be provided by public sector, charitable or not-for-profit organisations, increasing the need for more council foster carers.

According to The Fostering Network, there are approximately 3,800 foster families in Wales, 71 per cent of whom are foster carers with their local authority. 

Alastair Cope, head of Foster Wales, said: "We have some amazing foster carers across Wales, who do a phenomenal job in offering life-changing opportunities, security and stability and stepping up when our children need it most. However, there is a need to recruit more people to foster for their local authority.

“Foster Wales has an ambitious plan to recruit 800 new foster carers and that’s because we want all of our children who need it, to be able to have a suitable home, the right foster carer for them. Someone to support them, to stand by them and to set the table for them each morning.”

Deputy minister for social services, Julie Morgan, added: “Through the continued commitment of our foster families across Wales, children and young people are receiving the support they need, to develop and flourish. We want to make the pool of available foster parents in Wales as diverse as possible, to support the various needs of children in our care.”

The campaign will also have a launch event at Newport market on Thursday 18 January.