News

Less than 10 per cent of local authorities provide foster carers who leave their service with an exit interview, new research has revealed.

A study by The Fostering Network reveals that councils are not doing enough to find out why foster carers stop working for them.

Retention among local authority foster carers is a major issue with more leaving the service because of poor allowance rates or moving to independent foster agencies that provide them with reward payments and extra support. The situation is so severe that there is now a national shortage of 8,000 carers.

Researchers also interviewed people who had applied to become a foster carer, but then dropped out. It emerged that most did so because of a lack of contact with social workers, the length of time it took to be approved - one person waited more than one year - and a lack of information provided about the role.

The full findings of the research are to be unveiled in the summer.

The Fostering Network has also called on local authorities to improve training for foster carers, and make it a mandatory requirement. It said too few carers were turning up to training courses because councils were failing to encourage them to go and not putting in place facilities, such as child care services, to make it easier.