People providing foster care in Buckinghamshire has plummeted
Figures from Ofsted show 15 households in Buckinghamshire applied to become foster carers in the year to March – a 40% drop since before the pandemic.
The Fostering Network have revealed that a vast amount of services have been put under ‘immense pressure’ as the number of foster care places across England continues to decrease.
Unfortunately, the scene in Buckinghamshire is no exception as figures published by Ofsted today – Wednesday 20th November – show only 15 households in the county applied to the local authority to provide foster care in the year to March – down from 25 before the pandemic.
What’s more, there are currently 80 local authority-managed foster households in Buckinghamshire including five newly approved ones.
On a greater scale and a more positive note, the figures also show authorities and agencies across the country received 8,500 applications from prospective foster households in the year to March, up from around 8,000 the previous year.
Meanwhile, the number of approved foster care places had fallen to its lowest level in five years with 18,860 households providing 37,430 places as of March. However, it is worth noting that within the data numbers are rounded to the nearest five, while further households may have applied and been approved through independent fostering agencies.
Commenting on the findings, Sarah Thomas, Chief Executive of The Fostering Network, said they shine a spotlight on ‘the immense pressure foster care is under’, warning this will have ‘a detrimental impact on children and families.’
She continued: ‘The fewer foster carers we have, the more children who may end up in residential care or in homes away from their families and friends.
‘Action needs to be taken to make fostering more sustainable – we urgently need a UK-wide fostering strategy that addresses the retention of foster carers as much as recruitment.’
In addition, Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director for Social Care, said: ‘It’s a big concern that the number of fostering families continues to fall.
‘Foster carers make such a difference to children’s lives, but year on year we see more children coming into foster care, and too few carers with the right skills to give them the support they deserve.’
She added: ‘Last year, the government announced a national kinship care strategy with a commitment to improve support for kinship carers and their children.
‘This was very welcome, but we also need to urgently boost the number of foster carers and make sure that they, and the children they care for, get the right support.’
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