The Fostering Network's 2024 Manifesto

Our manifesto

We are calling on political parties to:

• Focus on care experienced children and young people.
• Support the fostering families.
• Invest and reform in the wider system supporting care experienced children and young people.  

We want:  

• Children and young people coming into care to maintain relationships with their families and communities. We need enough highly skilled foster families locally that can care for children where they need them.
• Foster carers to be recognised as having a key role in decision making for children and to be treated as equal and valued members of the team around the child. Their skills, knowledge and expertise should be respected and valued.
• A well-funded children’s social care system that truly values foster care and can support families at the point of need before their needs escalate.                  

With the right support, every child and young person with care experience can thrive in foster care. The Fostering Network is calling on all political parties to commit to taking bold, urgent action to tackle the challenges care experienced children, young people and foster carers are facing. Our manifesto provides achievable solutions to meet these goals.  

We will be sending our manifesto out to political parties and working with them in the run up to the election to ensure that improving the children's social care system and fostering is a top priority of the incoming Government.