Coram Voice and the Rees Centre have published a report aiming to provide insight into the subjective wellbeing of children in care. The report summarises responses to a survey of nearly 10,000 children and young people in care aged 4-18 years between 2016 and 2021. Findings include: A larger proportion of young people (aged 11-18 […]
Ofsted Statistics – Fostering England April 21 – March 22
Ofsted have released their annual fostering in England statistics. This release covers: the numbers of foster carers and foster places and placements, in both local authority (LA) and independent fostering agencies (IFA) data relating to types of foster care, registrations, deregistrations and a range of other subjects the period between 1 April 2021 and 31 […]
Children’s Commissioner – Help at Hand Annual Report and Review
The Children’s Commissioner for England has published an annual report for its Help at Hand service which offers support to care-experienced children and children receiving support from social care services. Key themes from the service this year include: a lack of support for disabled children within their families; and instability and frequent moves for looked after […]
Publication of Children’s Social Care Statistics for Northern Ireland 2021/22
The Department of Health has today published the ‘Children’s Social Care Statistics for Northern Ireland 2021/22’. Children in Need At 31 March 2022, 24,545 children in Northern Ireland were known to Social Services as a child in need; Some 34,969 children were referred to Social Services during 2021/22, the largest proportion of these children were […]
Launch of new fostering film
In a ground-breaking national collaboration, 56 local authorities across England, including Derby City Council, have worked together to share ideas and jointly fund the creation of a short film to raise awareness of fostering. It is aimed at finding more people who may be interested in becoming foster carers and providing nurturing, positive homes […]
Outsourcing of children’s home placements linked to poorer council Ofsted ratings, suggests study
Councils with a greater proportion of looked-after children placed in profit-making children’s homes tend to receive worse Ofsted ratings, research has found. For every additional percentage point of for-profit children’s home provision, a council had 4.7% lower odds of being rated outstanding, good or requires improvement, as opposed to inadequate, from 2016-21, said researchers. Echoing […]
Kinship Care And The Cost-Of-Living: A System Broken For Decades
Foster Talk released the findings from their 2022 Cost of Living Crisis survey which had over 4000 respondents. The findings revealed that 43 per cent of respondents were considering ceasing fostering in the next two years if additional financial assistance was not made available. 56 per cent had no increase in allowances in the […]
Extra cash for foster carers in Brighton and Hove
Foster carers working directly with the council are receiving extra cash to help as the cost of living rises, councillors were told this week. Officials told councillors that those foster carers tended to received more than those who had signed up with an independent foster agency although they gave no figures for comparison. Brighton and […]
We do it because we love them’: The families going broke trying to keep kids out of foster care
Almost overnight, Laura Thornton became the sole carer of her two young half-siblings at the age of 27. Just weeks earlier the restaurant team leader, who was only a couple of months pregnant, had been planning her own family’s future with her partner. But then her life changed when her father’s partner tragically passed away and […]
Foster care costs ‘horrific’ as allowance delay goes on
Some foster carers are experiencing “horrific” money issues as they continue to wait for extra financial support that was expected in April. The Department of Health, which is responsible for allowances, said the delay was due to ongoing uncertainty this financial year. An annual review and increase in line with inflation is […]