The Fostering Network responds to the final report of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in Northern Ireland

Today Professor Ray Jones published his final report as Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in Northern Ireland, following 16 months of extensive consultation. The report lays out a pathway to bring about transformational change, making recommendations for sweeping reform of children’s services

Professor Jones’ report found a shocking 4,000 children waiting for assessments and help from social care services in Northern Ireland and a much higher rate of children being referred to services in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. He highlighted the increasing demand this places on foster care which presents difficulties in finding stable and appropriate placements for children. He warned that the system is in crisis at every level, with social work workforce levels at an all-time low while the number of children requiring care is at an all-time high.

The most far-reaching recommendation in the report is to introduce a new Northern Ireland wide independent agency for children’s services to include all children’s services currently within health trusts, along with educational welfare and youth justice. While we welcome this, we are concerned the current political impasse needs to be addressed in order for the recommendations to be implemented.

We are grateful to Professor Jones for his valuable, thorough engagement with The Fostering Network’s members; foster carers, kinship foster carers, Step Up Step Down families and our Independent Fostering Providers’ Forum and are pleased to see many of the recommendations they made are included in the final report.

In particular, we welcome the recommendation that previous reviews of foster care should be updated and acted upon now and not allowed to drift. We also support the call to action in the report that foster carers “should be seen as colleagues and not simply as service users” which reinforces the recommendation that foster carers should be recognised and positioned as valued members of the children’s social care workforce.

Kathleen Toner, director of Northern Ireland at The Fostering Network said:

“Today's report is a clear exposition of the depth of the crisis in children’s social care in Northern Ireland and lays out a clear roadmap for change. We will take some time to consider the report in full and respond to the forthcoming consultation, informed by the views of our members. We look forward to being engaged with the Children’s Reform Board to continue to press for much needed change in foster care.

Our call today is to elected representatives to restore the institutions of government to ensure this journey to change is prioritised, resourced and fully implemented. To do anything else is to continue to fail our children.”