England

We welcome today’s announcement from the Department for Education of £20m funding to provide more early health and education support for families in England.

We welcome the report published last week by the Social Market Foundation on the future of fostering in England calling for a commitment from Government to raise the standards of care we expect and to improve outcomes for children with care experience.  

Stoke City FC has today become the first Fostering Friendly football club in the UK.

The Potters and bet365, who combined employ more than 4,000 staff in Stoke, have joined The Fostering Network’s Fostering Friendly employer initiative.

The accreditation aims to make a real difference to children and young people’s lives through implementing fostering friendly HR policies such as offering foster carers flexible working or paid time off for child care training, fostering-related meetings, or settling a new child into their home.

Yesterday, the Department for Education announced a further £50 million for councils to support care leavers. The majority of this funding, £33 million, is for further investment in Staying Put, the scheme which allows care experienced young people in England to remain living with their former foster carers after they turn 18. This is a 40 per cent increase on the funding allocated in 2019/20 and is based on the increased number of young people opting to stay put.  

Responding to the reports published by the Children's Commissioner for England today, Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: 'We welcome the reports from the office of the Children's Commissioner for England.

'The vast majority of children in care in the UK are living with fostering families and it is essential that all children who need a foster family are able to live with one.

We welcome Ofsted’s latest research on matching in foster care, published today. It finds that good matches are not down to luck and chemistry but are something that can be developed through good practice.

Stability for looked after children is vital, this is why matching in foster care is so important. When matches do not work, fostering arrangements breakdown which causes instability for the child and, sometimes, results in the foster carer taking a break from fostering or leaving the workforce altogether.