Government foster care target attainable, but must keep focus on retaining existing foster carers, says Coram research

Its report, Unlocking Fostering Potential: Identifying and Supporting Likely Foster Carers, sets out that the primary challenge in foster carer recruitment is not generating interest in fostering but converting those already interested into approved foster carers.

A YouGov survey of 3,497 adults in England, commissioned by Coram**, indicates there is substantial latent interest in fostering across England, with numbers considerably larger than current recruitment figures would imply. 1.1% of those surveyed, when asked ‘How likely or unlikely are you to apply to become a foster carer at any point in the future?’ replied they would ‘definitely do this’. When extrapolated to the eligible population as a whole, this suggests there may be over half a million adults who would say that they will definitely apply to foster a child at any point in the future. When taking into account all positive responses (7%, those that replied ‘I will definitely do this’, ‘I am very likely to do this’, or ‘I am fairly likely to do this’), this rises to an estimated figure of around 3.4 million adults in England.

Fostering remains the primary form of care for looked-after children in England, with around 56,400 children in foster care at any one time within a wider population of 81,770 looked-after children. However, the total number of fostering households has declined year-on-year since 2021, and the foster care population is ageing, with over one in three foster carers now aged 60 or over, compared with one in four five years ago.

While there appears to be substantial untapped potential within the English population, the research also finds that this potential is unevenly distributed geographically and across demographic groups. The survey indicated that several groups have higher fostering propensity than the mean, with women, parents of children under 18, larger households (four or more people), faiths outside of Christianity, LGB people, people living in the most deprived areas, those in lower income households, renters and respondents from minoritised ethnic backgrounds likelier to express an intention to foster, with respondents identifying as Black exhibiting the highest propensity of any demographic subgroup analysed. Those who gave to charitable causes that involved children were more likely to be high propensity to foster than those giving to other causes.

Coram’s literature review of evidence*** on the barriers and facilitators to foster carer recruitment highlighted the impact of good support on both retention and recruitment, and that retaining existing carers is an important element of maintaining the overall foster care system.

The report concludes: “Taken together, the findings suggest that the target of creating 10,000 additional foster care places over the current Parliament appears realistic and attainable if accompanied by a focus on retaining existing carers, and that there are significant challenges to achieving sufficiency on a regional basis. Success will also depend on more than national awareness-raising campaigns alone.”

It sets out the following recommendations focusing on improving conversion, targeting recruitment activity more effectively, and ensuring that gains in recruitment are supported by strong retention efforts: 

• Target recruitment efforts towards areas with high fostering propensity but relatively low recruitment. Population-based modelling identifies a number of local authorities, particularly in London, where demographic characteristics suggest substantial untapped potential. Recruitment campaigns should prioritise these areas
• Focus recruitment messaging on converting interest into action. Recruitment campaigns should combine values-based messages about helping looked after children and making a difference to society but also give clear and consistent information about eligibility, financial support, the application process, and the support available to foster carers
• Develop tailored recruitment approaches for groups with higher-than-average fostering propensity. Younger adults, people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, people of faith, parents of dependent children, and larger households all demonstrate elevated fostering propensity. Recruitment strategies should be tailored to better engage these groups
• Invest in support and retention alongside recruitment. Increasing fostering capacity will require both the recruitment of new carers and the retention of existing ones. Investment in practical, emotional and peer support for foster carers should form a key component of any strategy to increase the overall number of fostering households
• Introduce national reporting on the demographic profile of newly-approved foster carers. This would address a significant gap in current fostering data and enable services to better understand whether recruitment efforts are attracting a diverse range of carers capable of meeting the needs of increasingly diverse populations of looked after children
• Commission and undertake further research into key demographics. Some results from the survey show high propensity for becoming a foster carer for certain groups that may be counter-intuitive or show unrealised potential. Further research should explore these disparities in more depth

Dame Carol Homden, Coram CEO, said: “We are hugely encouraged by today’s findings, which indicate a substantial pool of people who are open to becoming foster carers, and expressed helping vulnerable children and making a positive contribution to society as their strongest motivations to do so.

“The challenge now is how we build on this impetus, as the number of children and young people in care continues to grow, and we welcome the government’s ambitious plans to recruit more foster carers. As part of this, as our findings show, we need to see a focus on targeting key areas and groups, availability of clear information, and practical support, to boost both recruitment and retention of foster carers.

“We look forward to working with the government, local authorities and across the sector to deliver the bold change needed so we can best meet the needs of thousands of children and young people who need loving foster families now and in the future.”

CoramBAAF, part of the Coram Group, is the national membership organisation for adoption, fostering and kinship care with extensive resources for foster carers. Today Coram is also launching a new First Steps tool to enable people to explore further the needs of children and address some barriers and misconceptions around fostering, for example that foster carers can be single, live in rented accommodation, and that there are a range of different agencies to choose from. Visit first4fostering.org.uk and coram.org.uk/fosteringnewfutures.

Read the full report