Recruitment and retention resources
Foster care changes lives. It is essential for there to be a wide pool of good foster carers, so that a child coming into care can be placed with the best foster carer to meet their particular needs. This means fostering services need to constantly focus on recruiting foster carers and retaining existing carers. The Fostering Network offers resources to support both areas.
Needs Analysis template
Created by the Department for Education and The Fostering Network, the needs analysis template is the starting point for all fostering services to inform a recruitment and retention strategy. Download the Needs analysis template.
The Skills to Foster™
The Fostering Network’s The Skills to Foster™ is the sector’s leading pre-approval training for fostering applicants. The Skills to Foster assessment materials cover both mainstream and family and friends assessments. Innovatively designed as dynamic PDFs, the forms are structured to ensure evidenced-based reporting to aid decision makers. Find out more about The Skills to Foster.
Mystery shopping
The Fostering Network has developed a mystery shopping package to help services assess and evaluate the customer’s experience when they first make an enquiry with your service. Services are provided with a bespoke package and a summary report evaluating the process and providing a series of recommendations to potentially transform service delivery and increase the number of foster carers you recruit. To find out more, please contact [email protected].
Recruitment consultancy
The Fostering Network can provide a bespoke package of strategic recruitment support to your service. Our associates have a wealth of senior level expertise to work alongside your team to identify and provide solutions for the challenges your service face to enhance your recruitment and retention of foster carers. Please contact [email protected] to discuss a package of support.
Transfer protocols
The Fostering Network has worked with key members of the fostering sector to develop transfer protocols which guide the way in which fostering services should manage the movement of foster carers between fostering services. Find out more.
Foster care exit interview toolkit
The Fostering Network has developed an exit interview toolkit for fostering services to capture all of the reasons why foster carers leave their services. This information can then be used by the service to improve practice and inform foster carer retention and recruitment strategies. Find out more.