‘Beyond recruitment: a new fostering plan that offers real hope’

The Labour government’s new national fostering campaign recognises that recruiting more foster carers is only the beginning. To give vulnerable children the safe, loving homes they deserve, we must also invest in the families who open their doors and hearts to them.

As an adoptive parent, I know how profoundly the right family can change a child’s life. But ambitious promises mean little without meaningful investment, practical support and long-term commitment.

This announcement gives me reason to be hopeful.

Alongside its national recruitment campaign, the Government’s fostering action plan aims to create 10,000 new foster places. Crucially, it recognises that existing carers must also feel valued and supported.

The life-changing power of a family

Our son was given the opportunity of a new beginning after an incredibly difficult start in life. The family who helped shape his future was connected to him not by biology, but by love, care and commitment.

I will always be grateful to those who opened their home to a child who needed safety and stability.

Foster carers do far more than provide a spare bedroom. Children may arrive carrying trauma, loss and disrupted attachments. They need patient adults who understand the unmet needs beneath challenging behaviour.

Fostering is not simply about filling vacancies in the care system. It is about helping children recover, develop and thrive. Those providing this care deserve a system that genuinely supports them.

Recruitment must tackle real barriers

The Government reports that approved foster carer numbers have fallen by 12 percent since 2019, while the number of children needing care has increased.

Research cited alongside the announcement found that 66 percent of people believed they could potentially be good foster carers if practical barriers were removed.

These include unsuitable housing, the cost of creating bedroom space, financial uncertainty and concerns about balancing fostering with work and family life.

The Room Makers initiative offers a practical response, with up to £25 million in capital funding over two years to expand placement capacity where it is most needed.

This is welcome, but extra bedrooms alone do not create the capacity to care. Investment must help suitable families overcome practical obstacles without compromising children’s needs or family wellbeing.

Recruitment must be about finding the right families for children, not simply increasing numbers on a spreadsheet.

Retaining carers is just as important

Finding foster carers is essential. Keeping them is equally important.

Data published in 2021 indicated that nearly 30 percent of foster carers left within their first two years. Although historical, this raises an important question: what would help carers continue?

Some report feeling excluded from decisions, undervalued or insufficiently supported. Accessing mental health services and appropriate support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can also be difficult.

Fostering can be rewarding but exhausting. Carers need professionals who listen, timely support and a genuine voice in decisions affecting children.

The Government has announced £88 million in fostering reform funding, including £12.4 million for the Fostering Innovation Fund, exploring flexible approaches such as respite and weekend fostering.

The Mockingbird Family Model is another encouraging initiative. It connects foster families through networks led by experienced carers, reducing isolation and providing practical support and trusted relationships for children. The Government has announced £8.9 million to support more than 100 additional Mockingbird constellations.

These initiatives recognise an important truth: foster families should never be expected to manage alone.

Supporting the whole child means supporting the whole family

Children’s needs rarely fit neatly within individual services. Education, physical and mental health, housing and SEND support may all be involved, alongside the effects of trauma and early adversity.

When services fail to communicate, foster carers are left joining the dots themselves.

Local authorities, schools, health professionals and social workers must work together, involving carers in decisions and providing support before placements reach crisis point.

Prevention, early intervention and joined-up working are essential to keeping children safe and placements stable.

Turning hope into lasting change

Creating 10,000 new foster places is an important ambition, but numbers alone cannot measure success.

We must ask whether children find suitable, stable homes; whether siblings remain together where appropriate; whether carers feel supported enough to continue; and whether children receive the educational, emotional and health support they need.

As an adoptive parent, I know that a family offering love, patience and stability can change a child’s future. I also know that those providing care cannot do everything alone.

This announcement offers hope because it begins to address fostering’s wider challenges: practical barriers, carer retention, supportive relationships and access to services.

But the real test will be implementation. Will prospective carers find it easier to take the first step? Will existing carers feel valued? Will investment improve children’s lives?

For our son, a family willing to make space for him was life-changing. Many other children need that same opportunity.

They deserve families who offer safety, love and stability. Those families deserve a system that supports them.

The challenge now is to move beyond recruitment and build a fostering system in which children are safe, families are supported and every child has the opportunity to flourish.

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