The Fostering Network's webinar in association with Mutual Ventures
Webinar details:
In February 2023, the government released its response to the 2022 Independent Care Review, its strategy 'Stable Homes Built on Love'. One of the commitments included a £27 million investment into a Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme to deliver end-to-end improvements in foster care services, addressing weak points in the recruitment and approval process. There are three main strands of the programme: the creation of Fostering Recruitment Support Hubs; the design and delivery of a regional fostering communications campaign; and expansion of the retention-focused Mockingbird model.
Nine self-selected “clusters” of local authorities successfully bid to deliver the programme from October 2023 to March 2025, alongside the pathfinder region for the programme who launched ‘Foster with North East’ in September 2023.
Ofsted data shows that in England, more mainstream foster carers stopped fostering than were approved in 2023, leading to a net decrease in fostering capacity. At the same time, data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows that the number of children in care has increased. It is hoped that the recruitment support hubs will boost fostering capacity and work towards building evidence in how to effectively recruit and retain foster carers.
This webinar will look at the objectives of the DfE's Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme and provide an update on the development of the ten recruitment support hubs. We will hear from Mutual Ventures, the delivery partner for the programme, as well as those involved in developing and running recruitment support hubs. Finally, there will be an update regarding the involvement and progress of Mockingbird.
Register your place:
This free webinar is available to members of The Fostering Network
You will receive joining instructions at the time of booking, a reminder will also be sent in advance of the webinar.
For more information contact practice@fostering.net
