Improvements for fostering system published

A Department for Education-commissioned review of foster care in England has been published, recommending greater stability and permanence for children and young people in foster care.

The review, which has included the extension of the government’s 30-hour childcare offer to foster carers, is part of a drive to ensure that children living in foster care have access to a stable and loving environment and foster carers get the support they need.

The government will respond to the report and the recommendations in the Spring, setting out the future programme of work for the fostering system.

Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, said: “We welcome this thorough and insightful report into the fostering system, which first and foremost is about identifying and addressing the needs of children in foster care. The report gives us an opportunity to celebrate foster care and to recognise the invaluable role foster parents play in the lives of vulnerable children.

“We are committed to supporting them in this role, and that’s why we recently announced that we will extend our 30-hour childcare offer to foster children to provide extra help for foster parents. We will carefully consider the review’s recommendations, alongside those from the Education Select Committee, over the coming months to determine how they can help us to make sustainable improvements to the fostering system and to the outcomes for looked after children.”