Member survey

The top three ways that respondents hear about our work for each group are:  

In addition, 19 per cent of foster carer respondents found out about our work through their fostering service or supervising social worker, 11 per cent through social media and seven per cent through foster care associations.  

14 per cent of fostering service respondents found out about our work through social media and 13 per cent through forums. 

When asked about the value of The Fostering Network member Advice & Information helplines in each of the four countries, respondents* reported: 

^{*The percentage figures given are those to whom the helpline is applicable} 

How foster carer respondents value Advice and Mediation / Independent Support (England and Wales): 

Out of the 780 foster carers to whom it was applicable,  

• 71 per cent found the support extremely / very valuable 
• 11 per cent moderately / slightly valuable 
• two per cent not at all valuable 
• three per cent were unaware of the service.  

Of the 68 fostering services to whom it was applicable: 

• 52 per cent found it extremely / very valuable 
• 33 per cent were unaware of the service  
• 18 per cent moderately / slightly valuable 
• four per cent not at all valuable. 

Member benefits – fostering services 

• For 52 out of 78 fostering services respondents, practice support is extremely or very valuable.  
• Forum reports are valuable for 42 respondents and local/regional forums are extremely or very valuable for 39 respondents.  
• The exit interview toolkit was the least well-known resource for services staff, with 32 out of 70 respondents saying they were unaware of it.

Member benefits – foster carers 

• Legal protection insurance was seen as extremely valuable by 64% 
• Stress support line was extremely valuable to 55% 
• ‘Member only’ content on the website was extremely valuable to 57%  
• Discounts and special offers was extremely valuable to 49%. 
• 70 per cent of foster carer respondents found the legal advice line extremely or very valuable.

There were still relatively high proportions of respondents who were unaware of these benefits (up to 28 per cent for the stress support line), so we have more work to do on ensuring everyone knows what is available to them as a member.  

‘Although newly approved carers do become members, I don’t think they really know enough about what they are entitled to as a member.’ – fostering service respondent 

Foster Care magazine is the most highly valued form of communication amongst foster carer respondents, with 61 per cent rating this extremely/very valuable and 31 per cent rating this moderately/slightly valuable. Three per cent rated this not at all valuable; four per cent were unaware of this service and two per cent said this was not applicable to them (from 1014 responses). 

Out of 80 fostering services respondents, 38 rated this extremely/very valuable and 33 rated this moderately/slightly valuable. Two rated this not at all valuable; five were unaware of this service; and two said this was not applicable to them. 

Our monthly e-news is seen as extremely/very valuable by 58 per cent of foster carer respondents and 45 out of 81 fostering services respondents.  

Awareness of the e-news is high, with only six per cent of foster carers and one fostering service unaware of it.  

‘I find the newsletter informative about national and government issues which will affect foster carers.’ – foster carer respondent  

‘Enjoy the magazine it always lets me know what's new, changing legislations, and I love hearing about the young people who are care experienced.’ – foster carer respondent  

Awareness of and the value given to our commercial offers are broadly good – with some exceptions: a relatively high proportion of respondents from both groups (24 per cent) are unaware of our publications, and 29 out of 78 fostering service respondents are unaware of our webinars.

Training and webinars (foster carer only): 56 per cent of foster carer respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 24 per cent rated this moderately/slightly valuable, three per cent rated this not at all valuable, 13 per cent were unaware of this service, and three per cent said this was not applicable to them (1014 responses).

Publications (both): 41 per cent of foster carer respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 26 per cent rated this moderately/slightly valuable, four per cent rated this not at all valuable, 24 per cent were unaware of this service, and five per cent said this was not applicable to them (989 responses). 

Out of 78 respondents, 57 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 18 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, one rated this not at all valuable, zero respondents were unaware of this service, and two said this was not applicable to them. 

Discounted training (fostering service only): Out of 76 respondents, 37 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 24 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, three rated this not at all valuable, seven respondents were unaware of this service, and five said this was not applicable to them. 

Webinars (fostering service only): Out of 78 respondents, 23 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 19 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, three rated this not at all valuable, 29 respondents were unaware of this service, and four said this was not applicable to them. 

Consultancy (fostering service only): Out of 78 respondents, 40 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 28 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, none rated this not at all valuable, six respondents were unaware of this service, and four said this was not applicable to them 

Discounted access to Mockingbird (fostering service only): Out of 75 respondents, 20 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 15 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, one rated this not at all valuable, 19 respondents were unaware of this service, and 16 said this was not applicable to them.

‘It would be beneficial to have some training alongside other professionals’ – foster carer respondent  

The Fostering Network aims to be a powerful catalyst for change, and together with our members we campaign to make foster care the best it can be. Recently, following our State of the Nation surveys in 2021, we have highlighted the need for foster carer status to be improved, and for the allegations investigation process to be reviewed.

56 per cent of foster carer respondents rated this aspect of our work extremely/very valuable, 21 per cent rated it moderately/slightly valuable, four per cent rated this not at all valuable, 16 per cent were unaware of this service, and three per cent said this was not applicable to them (984 responses). 

Out of 78 respondents, 44 fostering services respondents rated this extremely/very valuable, 20 rated this moderately/slightly valuable, four rated this not at all valuable, five respondents were unaware of this service, and five said this was not applicable to them.

Foster carer respondents told us that they want us to campaign more on the following:  

• foster carer status and professionalism  
• allowances 
• allegations system 
• taxation 
• sick pay  
• respite  
• unions  
• training standards. 

When we asked how our members would like to receive more information from us, they said:  

Workshop topics suggested by foster carer respondents were:  

• joint foster carer and social worker events 
• UK-wide best practice forums  
• recruitment  
• legislation, regulations and standards for social workers 
• foster carer reviews. 

We asked foster carers in what other ways The Fostering Network could support them. 276 foster carers responded to this question, some mentioned multiple topics in their answer. These are some of the highlights: 

• 36 respondents called for more campaigning around support of foster carers as professionals including: improved allowances (and parity between local authorities), status of foster carers, paid respite, lobbying for an MP for looked after children. 
• 22 respondents asked for more networking events and opportunities to meet other foster carers.  
• 20 respondents suggested that The Fostering Network could engage more with members, especially at local level. 
• Eight respondents were completely unaware of what we offer.  
• Seven respondents had IT issues and may require support.  
• 47 respondents could not think of any extra support TFN could offer or provided positive feedback. 

We asked fostering services what other categories of membership they would be interested in: 

• Four in ten said special guardianship membership
• Nearly one third said independent social worker membership
• Nearly one third said panel chair membership. 

Taking into consideration the views of our members, The Fostering Network membership team have identified some areas for development which will be built into our forthcoming plans: 

• Ensure we can communicate directly with all of our members by improving the data we hold – in particular gathering email addresses and developing our member email communications strategy 
• Review and optimise our website to provide relevant and up to date information on key issues facing the sector as well as providing easy access to offers and services available to members 
• Develop a new member welcome process to ensure all joining members are aware of what is available to them 
• Develop our content across webinars, our website, social media, emails and magazine to ensure we are better anticipating and meeting member needs  
• Develop our approach to promoting specific products and offers to members and non-members
• Consult with members more regularly on the issues they want us to focus on and how we are communicating with them. 

Foster carers

• 1052 foster carers completed the questionnaire.   
• 78 per cent foster in England, eight per cent in Northern Ireland, 12 per cent in Scotland and two per cent in Wales  
• 71 per cent fostered for local authorities/trusts and 29 per cent fostered for independent fostering providers/independent voluntary providers   
• seven per cent were family and friends foster carers (also known as kinship foster carers or connected persons carers)   
• five per cent were Staying Put carers   
• three per cent were Special Guardians  
• three per cent were Supported Lodgings Hosts  
• two per cent were involved in Mockingbird.

The foster carer respondent’s membership:   

• 63 per cent have been members for one to 12 years, 13 per cent for more than 12 years and 12 per cent were new members (less than one year). 12 per cent were unsure how long they had been members.  
• For 77 per cent of foster carer respondents their membership is paid for by their fostering service, 16 per cent were unsure of who pays for their membership and 7 per cent were self-subscribers.   
• 74 per cent were aware of The Fostering Network’s charitable status. 

Fostering services staff

• 82 respondents from fostering services completed the questionnaire.   
• 67 worked for fostering services based in England, five in Northern Ireland, seven in Scotland and three in Wales.  

Of those who responded:   

• 24 were supervising social workers   
• nine were foster carer recruiters   
• eight were team managers   
• eight were registered managers  
• six were administrators  
• three were Directors  
• three were Head of Service  
• three were trainers  
• two were panel members  
• two worked in finance  
• two were social workers  
• 12 were other.

Fostering service respondent’s membership:   

• three reported they had been a member for less than one year, 12 that they had been members for one to three years, 16 for four to seven years, 26 reported having been members for seven or more years, 18 reported that they have been members for as long as they had worked for the service and 7 did not know
• 46 have both organisational and block membership (meaning that both the organisation as a whole and all their foster carers are members), 14 have organisational membership (meaning that just the organisation i.e. fostering service staff members have membership), 13 have block membership (meaning just their foster carers have membership) and 9 were unsure of their membership type   
• Nnne in ten were aware of The Fostering Network’s charitable status.