Friday 22nd November 2024

The government announced this week its new plans to address the children’s care crisis, outlining proposals to keep more children with their birth families, to invest Ofsted with powers to fine providers, and to consider introducing caps on children’s home profits. Not only do these plans show the government’s failure to grasp the scale of the issue at hand, but also they all but ignore the central pillar of our system: foster carers. 

The figures are stark – and are getting worse every year. The shortage of foster carers has now reached 6,500 nationally, whilst the number of children in care is the highest on record. More and more of those children are being left to cope with their trauma and complex needs without proper support, as appropriate placements become fewer and farther between. 

While we welcome the government’s acknowledgement of the crisis in our children’s care system, and the steps taken to tackle profiteering residential homes that drain local authority budgets, the plans go nowhere far enough to solve the problem, and ignore one of the fundamental issues at the heart of our current crisis – the retention and recruitment of foster carers. The £15 million pledged to recruit more carers is woefully insufficient. The mass exodus of carers and resultant shortage of appropriate care will not be fixed until the government undertakes a serious reassessment of foster care, accepts the reality of the job we do, and invests accordingly. 

Under the current system, people who are highly skilled and trained to meet the complex needs of children in care are expected to perform this work 24/7, along with 20 hours of administration per week, for far less than the minimum wage, using their own savings to cover the costs of childcare. Yet, as foster carers, we still have no say in the decision-making processes affecting the child, and because the government refuses to recognise the fact that we are workers, we are denied basic rights like holiday pay, and pensions. 

In such circumstances the government cannot be surprised that carers are abandoning the sector in unprecedented numbers. The situation has driven many of us into debt and desperation. Until our work is fairly recognised and we are treated on an equal footing with the other professionals on a child’s support team, more and more of us will be forced to leave fostering altogether. 

If the government gave foster carers the correct employment status, properly acknowledging the work we do and providing us with job security, basic rights, and sufficient financial support, then we could finally make headway on the foster care crisis our country is facing, and ensure every young person gets the safe and supported home they need. Moreover, we continue to urge the government to introduce a central register for foster carers that will allow for improved matching and foster carers improved freedom to move between providers. Our union is part of the solution, giving foster carers a voice, and building towards a better foster system for all.