Fostering conference 2026, reflections on a remarkable day
Almost 150 people gathered for CoramBAAF’s inaugural fostering conference. The sun shone. We knew our chair for the day had to be a foster carer and, unsurprisingly, Hanan Al-Najar did an incredible job, sharing perception, real time reflections and holding the space with warmth and expertise.
Practitioners, managers, foster carers, care-experienced young adults, policy makers, researchers, panel members, health and legal professionals were among those in the room. We were joined by Roxy Wilson and Judy Wilson from The Traitors. We welcomed two beautiful young children (with their mums) to the conference. There were toys for the toddler, fidget toys for the adults, and small thank‑you gestures for the panel members who showed up to share their stories. We had an equal split of local authority and independent fostering agency practitioners. The stage was set and the buzz was contagious.
For many the true impact of the day came from the raw and expertly delivered truths shared by care-experienced young adults and foster carers.
Our keynote speaker Helen Hayes MP and Jonathan Bacon from the Department for Education provided important anchor points, outlining the key areas the education select committee are focusing on and the need for reform. The presentation by Linda Briheim-Crookall and care experienced consultants walked us through the latest Bright Spots findings, clearly telling us why and how we must do better for children in care. All of whom should be thriving and never just surviving.
Rebekah Pierre exquisitely chaired the care experience panel. Her natural ability to hold the panel members as they spoke their unfiltered truths with generosity, vulnerability and expressiveness was mesmerising to bear witness. One of them asked the audience, “stand up if you think six weeks is long enough for a meaningful consultation with children in care and care experienced young adults on the fostering reforms?” Nobody in the room stood up or raised a hand, a unanimous result. Those in the room were blessed to hear the nuanced and insightful interpretations and ideas. It was these lived experiences that brought the energy, the hope and the incentive to do better. The applause was huge and heartfelt.
The foster carer panel were their unique and glorious selves:
“I’m a social worker and a foster carer, and I can tell you I prefer being a foster carer.”
“No-one prepared me for the sadness I’d feel when the three young men I’d cared for over five years moved on and I’m still not over it now.”
Meg read one of her poems demonstrating what it feels like when you’re assessed, another foster carer spoke candidly about being questioned yet again about the post-natal depression she’d experienced 24 years ago during a current transfer assessment.
Despite stories that were frustratingly disappointing, depressing even in the context of social work practice falling short or policies falling short, the strongest messages were steadfastly hopeful. As a room, the commitment and willingness to keep on trying to retain the foster carers we have and to keep on trying to recruit more foster carers was intense.
Trevor Elliot told us his mission is to ensure that “Caring is the new cool.”
We witnessed that listening is the old cool and definitely still cool.
And kindness has never stopped being cool, as demonstrated by the love and openness in the room on Monday.
The key takeaway that I kept hearing was that we had curated a space for the collective act of listening.
Listening — the skill we cannot afford to lose.
Genuine listening, especially in the context of fostering reforms, means pressing pause on the priorities we might think matter most, dialling down ego, removing defensiveness, and bearing witness with respect and kindness.
If we, as practitioners and policymakers, aren’t feeling uncomfortable when we hear personal accounts from care-experienced young adults and foster carers who want to share their challenges, then I guarantee we are not truly listening.
When people choose to share experiences in a space where they hope to inform and influence change in policy and practice, their stories often hold trauma, loss, abuse, discrimination and examples of poor practice. These are the realities that must become catalysts for meaningful change. If we don’t believe or envisage that a fostering reform or change will improve the lives of children in care – why are we going ahead with it? Likewise if a reform is not going to improve the experience for foster carers why are we going ahead with it? We have to keep checking this out.
For us it continues to be important to listen to our members when the government is considering such major changes - including the removal of fostering panels for the assessment and approval process, reforming allegations processes and seeking to innovate to recruit thousands more foster carers. This is a vital time for our fostering sector. The proposed reforms will have a major impact, hence the need to draw on the fundamental social work skills of championing and advocating for the rights of children in care, uncompromised scrutiny and rigour, hypothesising and sensitive empathy before sign off and implementation.
The fostering reforms consultation is open until 17 March. Please do make sure you, your peers, colleagues, teams, foster carer associations and organisations complete the survey CoramBAAF Member Survey on DfE Fostering Reforms Consultation
Now is the time to share your views, your ideas, your solutions on all things fostering.
Emma Fincham- Fostering Consultant