In the last decade, the number of new foster carers in England has dropped by nearly 12%, while the number of children in care in most counties of the UK has increased significantly.
And those children rely on us so much. There are a hundred reasons why a child might have to leave their birth family. But every single one needs and deserves a safe, welcoming home.
It’s a common opinion that fostering has never been more challenging.
But as Director of Fostering and Adoption at Barnardo’s, one of the UK’s oldest children’s charities, I know that this isn’t the case.
It’s a common opinion that fostering has never been more challenging. But as Director of Fostering and Adoption at Barnardo’s, one of the UK’s oldest children’s charities, I know that this isn’t the case.
Thomas Barnardo founded Barnardo’s in 1867 after a cholera epidemic left 3,000 people dead and many children orphaned. Poverty and disease were so widespread that one in five children died before their fifth birthday.
He helped to pioneer fostering, convinced that children who could no longer live with their birth families would benefit from growing up in an alternative supportive family home".
We need to ask ourselves as a society, why we aren’t coming forward to foster anymore?
Now, fewer people than ever before are coming forward to foster, and it’s no secret that fostering services in the sector across the UK are struggling. Watching this happen is both shocking and worrying.
Children urgently need foster carers to provide safe, nurturing homes - whether for a night, a few months, or several years.
We need to ask ourselves as a society, why we aren’t coming forward to foster anymore?
We know that many people left fostering during the Covid-19 pandemic, when life became extra unpredictable and precarious. The shift to home working has meant many people’s spare rooms, which could have been used for a child in need, have been converted into home offices instead.
And of course, in more recent years we’ve had the cost of living crisis, making it harder for people to give their time and resources, although some financial support is available to foster carers.
It seems that in the 2020s, many people are just focusing on keeping their heads above water, financially and otherwise. But hardship can’t be the only answer to why there’s a crisis, because this country has faced hardship before and reacted more generously towards children than ever. Just look at the evacuations from the Blitz in World War II, when around 800,000 children were taken into homes in the countryside, in the most difficult circumstances.
Fostering might sound overwhelming these days. We know so much more about trauma, have so many more different names for the things children go through. But the issues are still the same as they have ever been; poverty, neglect, abuse. We just have different words for it.
And greater understanding means greater support and training; something Barnardo’s is committed to providing in spades for those who foster with us.
Love, security and stability - that is the difference that fostering can make to a young person’s life.
At Barnardo’s we are glad to see governments across England, Scotland and Wales have made some welcome recent commitments to increasing the number of foster carers. This includes better online information for prospective carers and toolkits for councils in Scotland, and £88m towards funding recruitment in England as part of a new foster care strategy.
And at Barnardo’s we are keen to play our part too – to make sure that those who want to foster are given the tailored support they need to welcome children into their home. This includes our dedicated social workers, expert training and learning opportunities, 24/7 helpline, generous financial support and an incredible community of like-minded foster carers.
We want children in care to be able to say “I feel safe and secure”. And when adults take that leap of faith and open their homes and hearts, we can come together and be that difference in a child's life. Love, security and stability - that is the difference that fostering can make to a young person’s life.
To find out more about Barnardo’s and how you could help support children, young people and families, visit www.barnardos.org.uk/foster
Foster Care Fortnight was created by The Fostering Network and runs from May 11 – 24.