On behalf of our members, The Fostering Network is extremely disappointed that foster carer allowances in Northern Ireland have only been increased by three per cent for 2024/25. This equates to an increase of less than five pounds per week, per child and represents another blow for foster carers after it was announced last week that Scottish Government would not increase allowances for foster carers in Scotland during 2024/25.
I am writing to you today, conscious of the impact that the recent and ongoing civil unrest and racist violence occurring across the UK will be having on fostering families and fostering services.
On behalf of our members, The Fostering Network is extremely disappointed to learn that the Scottish Government will not be increasing the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) for foster carers and kinship carers this financial year, 2024-2025.
Today our CEO Sarah Thomas gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee in the Senedd on Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill which seeks to eliminate profit from children’s social care.
Today, The Fostering Network has launched a new report in partnership with NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) which looks at the experiences of children and young people who have grown up in foster care. The launch of ’This is My Home: Growing Up in Foster Care’ comes during Foster Care Fortnight, the UK’s biggest annual awareness-raising campaign for foster care.
More children will end up in unsuitable homes if thousands more foster families aren’t urgently recruited, according to new figures released by the UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network.
Across the UK there’s currently a shortage of 6,500 foster families – a figure which comes during Foster Care Fortnight (13 – 26 May), the charity’s annual awareness raising campaign. The numbers lay bare the recruitment crisis currently facing the fostering community as the number of children in care in the UK exceeds 100,000 (100,437) – the highest on record.
Established in 2014, The Fostering Network’s State of the Nations’ Foster Care survey is the largest and most comprehensive study of the UK's fostering sector, representing the voices, thoughts and opinions of foster carers across the four nations.
We are delighted that Camden Council has committed to actively listen to the needs of foster carers by increasing their weekly allowances for 2024/25 to meet our recommended rates.
Our rates cover the full cost of caring for a child and are based on extensive work with expert economic analysts, Pro-Bono Economics.
The Fostering Network gave oral evidence to the Education Select Committee on Tuesday 16 April based on the extensive written evidence and research we submitted earlier this year. Sarah Thomas, our CEO, who has more than 20 years’ experience in children’s social care and working directly with fostering families, represented The Fostering Network and reflected the experience of our foster carer members. Sarah was part of a panel which included the CEOs of Adoption UK and Kinship.