The children’s social care system is in crisis. More children than ever before are coming into care and at the same time early intervention funding has halved over the last decade.
Children are coming into care later and with more complex needs, meaning they need more specialised support from foster carers. The social care system that should be able to support foster carers is at breaking point with high social work caseloads and staff turnover.
We are calling for all governments across the UK to:
- carry out wholesale reform of children’s social care backed by significant investment in early intervention services to reduce the number of children who need to enter the care system
- introduce measures to address social work turnover and caseloads which affects the consistency and quality of support for foster families
- Encourage all statutory, independent and third sector providers to sign up to the Foster Carers Charter to demonstrate their commitment to work in partnership in the best interests of children and young people
Recent reviews
Over the last five years, governments across the UK have carried out reviews of the children’s social care and/or the care system. The Fostering Network, with its members, has worked to influence these reviews to ensure improvements benefit children and young people in foster care:
- Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England
- Radical reforms in Wales
- The Promise in Scotland
- Review of Children’s Social Care in Northern Ireland
Our campaigns
Visit our campaigns page to find out more about our campaigns and sign up to our campaigners mailing list.