Two articles this month examine the issue of the shortage of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) foster carers:
- BBC analysis of Ofsted figures show that two-thirds of councils in England have a shortage of BAME foster carers. 23% of children in foster care in England at 31 March 2019 came from a BAME background.
- In an article published in the Independent, Shadim Hussain, government advisor on adoption, argues that a shortage in black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) adopters and foster carers, and a lack of support for white carers, is leading to BAME looked after children receiving care that doesn’t fully respect their culture, beliefs and identity. Hussain goes on to suggest that the foster care system needs to become “more inclusive and easy to navigate for foster parents from a range of backgrounds”, but rather than focusing solely on placing children in foster families with identical backgrounds and beliefs, we also need develop mutual understanding and increase support for carers in cross-cultural placements.