Our need for carers, from all walks of life, continues to grow

“Our need for carers, from all walks of life, continues to grow” – Alison Michalska, ADCS President

Alison Michalska, ADCS President, said:

“Foster carers are on the frontline of looking after vulnerable children who cannot live with their families. The care they provide can transform a child’s life. Ensuring that the child’s best interests are supported during their placement is one of the highest priorities for local authorities, there is a comprehensive application process and foster carers receive regular training.

“There is currently a shortage of foster carers and more children coming into care, so our need for carers, from all walks of life, continues to grow. Care takes many forms so we need many different types of carers, with a range of skills, to meet the diverse needs of all children in our care. The ability to provide children with stable, loving homes and appropriately meet their needs is the overriding concern and despite recent reports in the media there is currently no evidence that ethnic or cultural matching makes any difference to the success of a foster placement. Providing children with a loving and safe home is the key priority.

“Local authorities across the country are investing in local and regional recruitment campaigns to encourage more people with the right skills to foster to come forward so that all of those children in need of a foster placement find one. ADCS is fully engaged with the DfE’s National Fostering Stocktake which will take these and other issues into consideration and help highlight the challenges currently facing the system.”

ENDS

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