How to achieve a diverse and stable foster care workforce

Over the past five years in England, there has been a downward trend in fostering capacity.

At the same time, the number of children in care has increased resulting in an insufficient number of fostering households available at the point of need.

Because of this, children in care are at risk of being separated from siblings, moved far from their home or placed with a foster family that is not equipped to meet all of their needs. This can sadly mean they are either not supported to achieve their best outcomes or risk facing further instability.

Ensuring there are enough skilled and knowledgeable foster carers is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the fostering sector.

The research

The key objective of the research was to help underpin a strategic approach to achieving a diverse and stable foster care workforce, through identifying knowledge gaps. The research was supported by KPMG Foundation and conducted by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI). It aimed to:

• explore what works to retain foster carers
• develop a better understanding of the recruitment and approval process of foster carers in England.

The research included secondary analysis of Ofsted’s Fostering in England data and The Fostering Network’s State of the Nation’s Foster Care 2021 survey data. There was also a survey of prospective, current and former foster carers (1,879 responses were received), as well as interviews and focus groups with fostering service staff, and prospective, current and former foster carers.

Full details of the research and its findings can be found here.

What does the research tell us?

The overarching message from the research is that the best foster carer recruitment strategy is retaining current foster carers. Retaining and supporting foster carers throughout their journey is crucial to ensure all children in care have stable homes where they can thrive. 

Although 89 per cent of respondents’ primary motivation to foster was to make a difference to the lives of children, many face barriers to becoming a foster carer. In addition, many current foster carers are prematurely leaving the workforce.

Other key findings included:

• Negative experiences of the application process: Poor communication, delays or insufficient information from fostering services during the application proess were common and put applicants off this vital role, with 71 per cent of applications being withdrawn. 
• Sufficient renumeration: This was a key determining factor as to whether foster carers stop or continue fostering. Of foster carers who feel they are not fully financially supported, only 44 per cent would recommend fostering.  
• Relationships with social workers: High turnover of social workers and workloads, combined with a lack of understanding of what fostering entails and poor communication and coordination between social care teams all contributed to foster carers feeling unsupported. 
• Lack of respect: Foster carers reported a lack of respect for the unique role they play, both in navigating and advocating for the child within the care system and providing 24-7 care to children within their own homes.
• Differences by demographic: The research also found that the experiences of foster carers varied depending on their ethnicity, age or gender. Further research is needed to ensure under-represented groups are supported to start and continue fostering to achieve a more diverse workforce that reflects the diversity of children in care. 

Application to policy and practice

This research comes at a crucial point as the Government begins to implement their long awaited Stable homes, built on love strategy for children’s social care. The Fostering Network will continue to work closely with Government to ensure this research underpins their investment in fostering such that it achieves the best results for children and young people. 

Based on the findings of this research, The Fostering Network recommend that:

• Fostering services ensure their application processes incorporate lived experience, facilitate the building of quality relationships and are flexible, transparent and culturally sensitive to support more people to be foster carers.
• To retain foster carers, it is vital they are well supported. Fostering services should ensure foster carers have access to specialist out-of-hours and peer support, and are provided with timely transparent administration of allowances, fees and expenses.
• Fostering services should also offer all resigning foster carers an exit interview to inform service development and retention and recruitment strategies.

The Fostering Network have developed a suite of resources, aimed at both social workers and foster carers, to support the recruitment and retention of foster carers including an exit interview toolkit.

If you are interested in learning more, please email learn@fostering.net. The Fostering Network will take the lead in translating these findings into practice, creating guidance for services, providing the training and support required to implement sustained change