Foster Care

(asked on 6th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of foster care placements.


Answered by
Claire Coutinho Portrait
Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
This question was answered on 16th January 2023

The department recognises the urgency of action in ensuring sufficient foster placements. The department continues to fund Fosterline and Fosterline Plus, a free-to-access helpline and support service for current and prospective foster carers, to provide high quality, independent information and advice on a range of issues.

Since 2014, the department has provided over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care. The department is also committed to engaging widely with those with care experience and all interested stakeholders to help us agree an implementation strategy that will drive the right change and scale up good practice across the country.

The department is currently working with local authorities to recruit more foster carers and improving the conversion rate from expressions of interest to approval. This includes local recruitment campaigns that build towards a national programme, to help ensure children have access to the right placements at the right time.

The department is carefully considering the recommendations made in the independent review of children’s social care and will publish a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy early in 2023.

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