Recruiting and retaining foster carers

Over recent years, the number of UK foster carers has decreased – but the number of children in care has increased. Clearly, this is an unsustainable situation that risks becoming a real crisis. How can we ensure that there are sufficient foster carers to look after children in care, and also sufficiently varied carers to meet the needs of all waiting children? 

Foster carer recruitment and retention are huge challenges that have attracted much research and reporting, without leading to widespread positive change. But some key best practice has been learned. What forms of recruitment have proved most useful, and what advertising encourages applications? How have some agencies successfully reached a range of diverse applicants? What do carers value most in a fostering service, making them more likely to stay – and what factors may push them to leave? 

Who is this book for? 

This guide is invaluable for all social workers and managers involved in recruiting foster carers, and formulating related policy and practice. But most importantly, it is a key resource for all fostering social workers, influencing their practice in supervising and supporting carers in the best way to help ensure their retention.  

What you will find in this book 

This guide explores the current information and research on recruitment and retention, synthesising the results to provide best practice recommendations for agencies. It draws on discussions with social workers, foster carers and care experienced adults to support fostering services in their practice. Incorporating the views of both independent agencies and local authorities gives an overview of current sector policy and innovative projects, what has been found to work and what doesn’t.  

The guide includes:  

• summarised results of key reports, including the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, the Government’s Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive, and reports from The Fostering Network and Social Market Foundation 
• particular issues relating to recruitment and retention of carers with disabilities, those from black and minoritised ethnic groups, and LGBTQ+ carers 
• best practice in managing fostering enquiries 
• best practice for initial visits, and how these can impact recruitment 
• how to utilise fostering application forms effectively 
• the effects on foster carer retention of delegated authority, matching, fees and allowances, supervision, support, training, and more 
• compassion fatigue amongst carers, its effect on retention, and how to mitigate this

The guide will help fostering services review their practice, boost recruitment and – just as importantly – ensure their retention. Case studies illustrate the learning and its applicability to day-to-day social work. The guide includes a range of useful example forms, including for initial visits, applications and exit interviews.

The authors

Helen Wilmot (formerly Dunkley) has long experience in children and families and fostering services. She has been a Form F assessor, quality assurance manager, agency decision-maker, independent fostering reviewing officer, and complaints investigator. Since 2017, she has been an established fostering panel Chair, alongside being a Chair for the Independent Review Mechanism. Helen is an associate trainer for CoramBAAF, associate of Foster Talk and Fostering Network, and a social work adjudicator for Social Work England. 

Mandeep Sahejpal has been a social worker in fostering, adoption and children and families services. She has been an assessor for foster carers and prospective adopters, complaints investigator, Chair of fostering and adoption panels, chaired complex reviews, operations manager, quality assurance and safeguarding manager, and supported agencies to prepare for inspections. She is the Chair and panel adviser for the Independent Review Mechanism. She is also a qualified practice educator and an associate trainer for CoramBAAF. 

NOW AVAILABLE IN EBOOK AND HARD COPY

This title is now available in digital-only format for immediate access. Purchases are held in your own personalised online library and accessed via your browser or through the app on your phone or tablet.

Questions about eBooks? Check out our FAQs

A 10% bulk order discount will also be applied for orders of 10 copies or more on this title. Discount will be applied in your basket.