Foster care: guidance and research
Foster carers play a huge part in the lives of many children who cannot live with their parents. Recruitment and retention of foster carers is a priority. This was made clear in the Every Child Matters green paper, which stated that the government wants to encourage more people to consider fostering, including groups such as single people, older people, unmarried couples and lone parents who may not realise that they are eligible.
A bigger pool of carers would enable us to make better matches between carers and children, giving them the highest quality care and stability they need. Children are more likely to thrive if they are placed with carers who are a good match in terms of location, culture, language and lifestyle.
The government has funded - and continues to fund - a number of initiatives to support the recruitment and retention of foster carers.
National minimum allowance for foster carers
In July 2006 the government published for the first time national minimum allowance rates for foster carers. This will create a fairer system of payments across the country, helping to ensure that no foster carer is out of pocket due to the costs of looking after children placed with them. From April 2007 the national minimum allowance for a baby will be £100-116 per week, rising to £151-176 per week for an older teenager. The national minimum allowance is accompanied by good practice guidance on payment systems for foster carers.
The
National Miniumum Fostering Allowance and Fostering Payment Systems: Good
Practice Guidance (July 2006)
Sets out a good practice framework for payment systems and offers a range of
ideas and case studies to support improvement in the way in which payments are
made. It is intended to serve as a useful resource for all involved in
fostering.
Dealing with an allegation against a foster carer
The government recently funded the Fostering Network to provide foster carers and others involved in the process with training and information materials that will give a balanced and realistic understanding about the issue of allegations against foster carers.
Protecting
Children - Supporting Foster Carers: Dealing with an Allegation (April
2006)
Provides foster carers and other professionals with information on what should
happen if an allegation is made. The booklet also offers advice about financial
support.
Fostering Publicity Pack
The Fostering Publicity Pack has been designed to help local authority fostering teams to recruit new foster carers. The pack is a source of practical advice on how to recruit and retain foster carers, along with ready-made artwork. Three copies of the Fostering Publicity Pack have been sent to every local authority.
The pack includes an order form that can be used to obtain additional packs, posters and leaflets free. You can also download the form.
Messages from research
The report 'Fostering Now - Messages from Research' by Professor Ian Sinclair of the University of York, examines what can be learnt from recent research on foster care. Free copies of this report have been made available to local authorities, and further copies can be bought from Jessica Kingsley Publications.
Click to download the report from the Jessica Kingsley Publications website or download a series of leaflets below which summarise the research for different audiences.
Fostering Now - Messages from Research - leaflets (January 2004)
This page was last updated on 29 June 2007
