Nearly 55,000 children in England live with foster carers, and despite a recent fall in the number of children in care, pressure on the system remains intense. Rising costs and the growing role of private providers in residential care and foster placements have exposed deep weaknesses, yet reform has lagged behind the crisis in children’s homes. Only now have ministers set out plans to reshape fostering. The test is whether their plan fixes the system, or papers over its cracks.
The main thrust of a new policy paper from the Department for Education is that more foster carers are needed to meet a target of 10,000 additional non-profit places by 2029. The children’s minister, Josh MacAlister, who previously led a review of the sector under the Tories, likened the plan to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which saw nearly 74,000 people volunteer to host refugees fleeing the war. A national recruitment campaign can be expected soon. With around a third of all current carers aged over 60, it makes sense to try to attract new people to their ranks.
