Why are we so short of foster carers?

[Fosterangel]

Our LA admits that it is desperately short of foster carers. Where are all the amazing potential foster carers? What is the reason for holding back? Why are we not recruiting enough foster carers or retaining the foster carers we have?

I am sure the babies don't mind either MrB

I would love to foster. We have 6 bedrooms (not a stealth boast!) we have an annexe which we rent out.... Bought specifically in the knowledge that we'll be supporting parents as some point in the future!!!

I would give up work tomorrow to foster. Unfortunately we need both incomes to pay the bills and stress and worry about money on top of looking after children who will bring their own stress and worry doesn't a happy foundation make. If I could be guaranteed my salary through fostering I would do it... The evenings and weekends would be 'goodwill/charity'.

Alas I can see it will be a long time before I can afford to offer my services seriously.

Very frustrating as I feel this is my calling.

I am only able to afford to do it because I was only working 15 hrs a week anyway. I definately wouldn't have been able to do it if I had been working full time.

DH is already panicking what do we do when this LO leaves as we can't afford being without a placement.

Agree that SS and LA shouldn't be banking on people's good will alone. If they want us to be everything to these children, carer, nurse, therapist, psychologist, then pay us a decent wage!

As far as I can see, if you want to guarantee your income with fostering and you have the room, you could do long term fostering. A child, or a sibling group, would be placed with you until they are 18 (in our LA it is 18). They are very carefully matched with you and your family so there might be a little wait until the right match is made but there would be notice so you could give your notice to quit work.

I can see what you mean Bonnie but I think to start thinking of long term fostering just from the finance angle is not a good idea. As I'm sure you know there is a big difference between short term fostering (even though it can go on for 2 years+ especially if there are court proceedings, which there usually are) and long term or permanent fostering.

Tbh I never liked the idea of placing a child or children on a permanent basis with couples who had not had their own children or fostered on a short term basis. I think with short term fostering you do get an idea of whether you can care for someone else's child/ren and how your family react to the arrangement. If a fc thinks it isn't right for them, it is easy for them to withdraw from fostering, or maybe even do repsite care ( e.g.one or two weekends a month to give other fcs a break, or right from home, as some LAs have both schemes running) With permanent fostering it seems to me to be a big risk, because the introductory period has to be based obviously on the child/ren moving in with the foster carers, and it's "in for a penny in for a pound."

Very few people applied to long term foster I'm afraid, but it was quite common for a couple in a second marriage where one or both of them had children from 1st marriages/partnerships, and wanted a child "together" and often seemed to have a rosy picture of this child who would "belong" to both of them. We often suggested that such couples tried respite fostering first (just dipping a toe in the water) and then maybe short term and if all went well moving on to long term. There were no guarantees of course (are there ever in fostering!) but we found this worked well. We did place children with people who had been approved for permanent fostering of course, but it wasn't that much of a worry because so few people came forward.

The most successful route to permanency was when a child/ren were fostered on a short term basis and all went well and the foster carers wanted to keep the children on a permanent basis. We did have a few of these situations but not as many as we would have liked!

I know people are annoyed that the LAs are not paying enough for the sterling service that foster carers provide, but I think the blame lies with the coalition who are slashing the budgets of all public services and at the same time wanting improved services.

Yes, I agree NN but I just thought if people are being put off fostering only because of the unreliability of the income that might be something they have not thought of. I know people are funny about fc's fostering for the money but who on earth can afford to do it if it is not guaranteed? It really limits people who can apply who would be lovely, motherly (and fatherly) and caring to all these little people.

I totaly agree NN i foster but dont foster for the income i dont need to we dont rely on the fostering money as i was a sham before and manged on just oh wage

But sadly i do see the diffrence in standards of care between some of the other foster carers who relay on the money and some who dont i myself have stopped going to our fostering support groups because the only subject that is ever on the agenda is money

And my vie is it really wouldnt matter if i was getting paid £800 a week if the childs sw wont get bak to me or they take 3 years before they even bring the childs case to court

I really dont belive this is about money many IFA struggle to retain and recurit foster carers and they pay quite well

Their are just some jobs well paid or not it will be hard to get pepople

There will always be individuals MrB who see fostering as an easy way to make money but hopefully they are in a minority

sadly i do see the diffrence in standards of care between some of the other foster carers who relay on the money and some who dont Huge generalisation!!! Also very smug!

I really love fostering and I believe my standards of care are as good as any who foster and dont need the money. I would do anything for the children in my care but the truth of the matter is without getting the allowance I would not be able to foster.

The original question was "What is the reason for holding back? Why are we not recruiting enough foster carers or retaining the foster carers we have?"

It still seems that we are stuck in the mindset that "money" is a dirty word in relation to foster carers and that you should not be paid money in relation to it. Why ? children's social workers (some very bad) do, as do the vast majority of "professionals" within the whole set up.

It is the standard of care for the child and putting their interests first that matters and relating back to the original question at the top, it won't change or get better until we move away from old habits and beliefs and treat the care of children with the importance and professionalism it thoroughly deserves.

childatheart : Hear Hear!! You got it in one

i became a fc a few years ago, i love it . it was never about the money .. im a single parent and i work .. had constant battles with this one social worker lack of information etc .. they have now left as sw team an moved into foster team so they have now became my link worker .. i had asked for respite once a month as the child i have is hard work only to be told that i can have respite once every 4 months ...like many carers on here i dont get a wage, wish i did for the 172 week i have put in ... i should be able to take a break when i ask ... as for this i thought i was helping the children my only opition is to give up working with the la .. go private ..

could it also be the 2 year+ approval process, with your life scrutinsed under a microscope but with virtually no communication from the SW, and no idea of or if any progress has been made with your application,

This is how it has gone for us:

all paperwork from our side done almost two years ago.

all interviews and attendance on intro courses done 18mts+ ago

medicals ect done 1 year ago

references done 1 year ago and referees finally interviewed 6 mts plus ago

just SW paperwork to be completed and submitted for approval and then to panel

all through this we were told yes we were great candidates and she would try to get everything done as quickly as possible and she had two "kids" in mind for us over a year ago, but that the last carers she had processed had taken over two years to go through the process but promised that she would do better this time!

SW has sat on this paperwork for over 6 mts and done nothing,
the original snails pace of progress that we were able to prompt out of the SW with calls and emails has now ground to a halt,

she refuses to do paperwork and trys to get her colleuges to do it for her
(she quite proudly told us in one of our first of many interviews that she hated paperwork and particularly the new forms and would not use them at all but got some one else to copy her stuff from the old forms that she would grudgingly use onto the new ones)

Obviously this has approach has failed but she will not hand off our application to anyone else to complete,
all we get are just occasional very flimsy excuses as to why nothing has been done.

and yes in my area they are so desperate for carers that they regularly advertise for them in the press, but then just dont process the applications

We are now at the point of giving up and telling SW department to stuff it

If this is how incompetant SW are at this stage i shudder to think what they will be like when we are actually carers and may need their help or advise.

I must admit that it took us over a year from start to finish to go through the fostering process.

The most telling thing to us is how our friends and family view fostering. Most say that the children are lovely but they do not know how we put up with the social workers!

None would ever consider fostering (and some were actually thinking about it whilst we were qualifying!).

Well this is my last placement and i am hoping to adopt as i want to help children but dont want the stupidity of the sw any more

I cant be arrsed being told how to raise a child by some 23 year old who lives with there mum and only seen the child twice

The rule apply when they want u to do somthing but dont when its there turn

They ask to little of the birth parents and to much from us

I once was asked by a sw how i was i replied i was a bit tired

That triggered a 2 hour meeting between my link worker , the sw i sopke to and the line manger

FOOLS THE LOT OF THEM

Incomptance of that level would not be tolrated in any other relhm and meetings about meeting are a luxury only sw have because the rest of the working world is busy

Totally concur Fishwife1949

You should not be allowed to become a SW unless you have life skills and have demonstrated also your parenting skills.

Too many young somethings with a degree who really don't have a clue about children, families or parenting but yet are the "experts".

I am a qualified nursery nurse and children's nurse but gave up work after having a baby. I applied with DH to foster children with special needs/ sibling groups... we have 2 spare rooms and a big garden but were turned down as couldnt say for definite whether we might have more children in the future (hadn't decided at that point). Social worker was so rude, asked over the phone what method of contraception I was using as they didnt want to waste their time if I was going to get pregnant soon! When I said I felt that was an inappropriate question she said they would not take my application further.

I am really annoyed for you at reading your post Afewquestions! How dare they ask about your contraception. I would have given that enquiry short change and a furious glare. I know that the process is intrusive (it has to be as it is child protection) but that it a step too far imho.

Have you tried other agencies or fostering organisations? We are with the Local Authority (LA). You can apply to foster through Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA's) or through charities (Barnardos). Try some more to see if it was just one very rude SW. It will only cost you the phone call enquiry and I hope put your mind at rest.

I am sure NanaNina will enter the discussion as she is the font of knowledge to us foster carers.

O.M.G. - I am getting more and more shocked at some of these posts, and angry and frustrated on your behalf Afewquestions and others who are being treated appallingly by social workers. In fact I think some posts raise my blood pressure!!

What happened to you AFQ is totally horrendous and you must must make a formal complaint. An offer like yours (which should be perceived as gold dust) is turned down on the phone - UNBELIEVABLE. Ask the LA for a copy of their complaints procedure and follow it. The first stage is usually to complain to the sw's team manager, and if matters aren't resolved , there is usually an independent assessor and if still not resolved, you can have a meeting with membersof the social services committee (might be called cabinets now).

The other way which is quicker is to complain to your local councillor or ask for the name of the chair of the SS Committee and make written complaint to him/her althought your local councillor should pass it on. Then the councillor will pass it to the Director or Chief Exec and it will get passed down the line to the relevant tm mgr and believe me they have to reply very promptly as the Director will want to get back to the councillor asap.

You must complain, not only for yourselves but for others who may have the misfortune to get this incompetent social worker. Applicants should never be turned down on the phone, unless it is someone who is clearly unable to foster (I once had an 86 year old woman in a one bedroomed flat who aplied to foster as her son thought it would be a god idea!)

Keep us posted.

Thank you for your kind words Fosterangel - I just wish I could get my hands on some of these social workers who can behave so unprofessionally.

nana I'm sorry I have only scanned this post and not read all in detail - so sorry if any duplication. ... and sorry as this is long. ( a lot to get off my chest!)

I am a new foster carer. I have got the most lovely social workers - who (I truly believe ) should be nominated for some sort of medal/pay rise/statue in their honour..... as they are DEDICATED beyond belief.

Fostering itself is amazing- as for all it is horrific in moments (screaming ,frightened 6mo baby, teething -and unused to physical contact that doesn't hurt - let me tell you how little sleep we got in the beginning!) but it is also very rewarding (when the same baby "allows" you to cuddle him for the first time....)

it is not the social workers that will stop me fostering - they have been awesome. What is a problem, is that I have a DD of my own and the relentless "contact" is something I wasn't prepared for. I cannot go anywhere, or do anything. My life is ruled.

I want to take my family ( FS incl, obviously) on a day trip - I can't. There isn't a day free.

I hate the fact that my daughter now has to miss out on family days out as we have to hang around in case the mother doesn't turn up to contact ( as Social workers are sooo stretched ....there would be no-one to look after FS if we didn't.)

We will probably not foster again.

Another example of how appallingly foster carers are being treated. This whole thing about contact has changed so much over the years. Back in the 80's birthparents almost always had contact at the home of the foster carer, and needless to say some carers really didn't like this, as the bp would bring piles of sweets, or criticise the fc or just them being there was an intrusion, or the bps wouldn't turn up at all. However others were very good at it, and ended up often befriending the young mother (as a lot of birthmothers are little more than children themselves)

Then things began to change about 10 years ago (or possibly longer) where all contact took place at contact centres, and children were picked up by a contact worker, driven to the centre and the contact was supervised by the contact worker. Not a great idea for the children, as they were often driven miles (sometimes on a daily basis) to have contact with the bps. The younger the child the greater frequency contact has to be, so that the baby/child does not lose any recall of the birthparents.

However I gather that now fcs are being expected to do all this contact because of lack of funding for contact workers because this govt is slashing the budgets of all public services, but it looks like many LAs are just wanting fcs to take over the work of the contact supervisors. I have heard that some LAs won't approve carers unless they agree to do the contact too.

They just don't deserve carers to be honest. I am just hearing so many horror stories of the appalling ways in which foster carers are being treated

Purpleloosestrife - I was out shopping with my mum this week and we bumped into a lovely lady that I did the Skills to Foster with almost 3 years ago now. She and husband went on to foster newborns/babies and we went on to do teens.

We have kept in touch (and will continue to do so). I liked the way she cared for her lo's with so much love and care and total commitment. She gave up fostering a few weeks ago for exactly the same reason. Her own bs was suffering with the daily contact that fell to her to do. She had a lovely SSW but whenever she asked for anything, like respite for a wedding out of area, or help with transport when bs was in hospital one time, it was refused.

There are many things that are really not right and are driving good carers away. I cannot believe that Social Services cannot see this!

Well I think they can see it. The real villian of the piece is the govt because they are slashing through budgets of all public services with a samuri sword. Then of course the LA has to make decisions about how they are going to make the savings needed to comply with the govt, and we're talking big bucks here as I'm sure you know. At the same time Cameron is wanting improved public services, for less money. Impossible. Wherever the cuts are made by LAs there is an outcry eg day centres for people with LDs closed, luncheon clubs for the elderly closed, etc etc.

I do however agree with you that it is extremely short sighted to cut the contact supervisors on the basis that foster carers can do their job too for nothing really, as carers are not paid any extra for doing all the contact, apart from mileage allowance. This is inevitably going to mean fcs will be leaving, and the LA will have to pay massive amounts of their depleted budgets to IFAs. It also has a feel of passing on the cuts that will affect foster carers as they are not that important and won't make a fuss. That is conjecture of course.

The LA where I worked in SSD for many years (a shire county) is cutting all jobs other than social workers and team managers, so all the other management tiers above that are going, and the line management structure will be sw, tm mgr, director. Job done! And there will be big savings as middle and senior managers will be on relatively high salaries. How it will work in practice, no-one knows but at least they are not cutting contact supervisors.

Nananina - we're expected to transport without mileage allowance! I haven't once been paid for transporting.

On the other hand, one (very small) improvement the government have recently made is to reduce contact for babies from daily to no more than 3 times per week. This is supposed to help with implementing routines which was impossible with daily contact. The new rule isn't always adhered to (my current LO has 4 days per week) but its slowly being used more as departments realise it saves them money and contact time!

Sorry nanna but i dont agree about the goverment bit it nought to do with them

In our LA we have excellect conatct service they pick the fc up and drop them off but even if they didnt it would still effect our family time as sw are to scared to tell parents who continually fail to show for contact that its off until some true comitment is shown

even with parents who are good and do show we have BEEN TOLD WE ARE TO BE NO MORE THAN 30 minutes away just in case which means all you can do is nip to tesco or go home

There is no amount of goverment money that can fix the fact that some parents wont show for contact hence (us) foster carers having to be on standby and are own familes missing out on days out ect.

In my view this is sqaurely laid and the feet of judges and sw who in my view allow parents to take the piss for to long

my LAST FOSTER CHILD HAD TO ENDURE TWO YEARS OF CONTACTS WERE NO ONE SHOWED UP BEFORE IT WAs PUT A STOP TO

For me thats the real issue its very jarring to have to turndown trips out to facilitate a conatct you know wont happen then once you haul the gc up to the conatct you are then faced with a deverstaed fotser child as well as missing out on a family trip this is not how anyone should have to spend there weekends

Nanna i am usually with yu but on this i just think the courts and sw need to be a lot toughter and that way the fc are not left dissapointed and the foster carers time is not wasted waiting for a parent that never comes

Scarlet They are not paying you mileage.......!!! I thought I'd heard everything but still the horror stories come piling in. Do any of you badly treated carers belong to a group of foster carers for your LA. My experience of foster carers in the LA where I worked, was that they were a very influential group. All new carers were invited and their activities were both formal an informal. Coffee mornings (where fcs could moan about the sws!) christmas party for the kids, summer picnics etc., but they also met formally and discussed between themselves what was going well and what wasn't. They also got in touch with foster carers within the same LA but in a different geographical area, and the whole of the County Council fcs also met as a very large group every quarter. By banding together in this way, they were able to see if there were inconsistencies between different areas about how carers were treated (and there always was of course). If the local group wanted a sw or tm mgr at one of their meetings then we would attend and be made aware of any problems that were arising.

The fcs in the entire CC group elected a chair, minute taker, rep from each area in the CC etc and the director of SSs would be asked to attend on occasions (which he did) and this meant that the director would be made aware of any problems and we would be called to account. Proper thing too.

IF there is no such group, how about starting one in your local area and maybe get things moving - "united we stand - divided we fall"