The Fostering Network

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The Fostering Network

The Fostering Network is the leading UK charity for everyone involved in foster care. On any one day over 51,000 children in the UK are looked after by foster carers as they are unable to stay with their own parents. Many have been abused or neglected. They may have a disability which their parents struggle to cope with or their family may be under severe strain. Foster care provides these vulnerable children with the support and stability they need, helping to ensure that their traumatic start in life does not lead to problems in adulthood.

 We train and support foster carers.

In 2008 more than 1500 foster carers attended training on topics as diverse as safer caring and substance misuse. Our training is complemented by a range of informative publications, and our Foster Care Resource Centre holds details of over 6,000 sources of information on foster care.

Every month, our free Fosterline phoneline receives over 500 calls from foster carers needing specialist help and advice.

 “It was a real life-line, I would not have known what to do and our nephews might still not be with us. Fosterline advice moved things forward.” 

Fosterline user

We influence social policy surrounding the care system, pressing for improvements to the status, authority and pay of foster carers, and calling for increased awareness of the crucial difference good foster care can make to a child’s life. 

We are instrumental in recruiting foster carers. The UK is facing a deficit of around 10,000 foster carers, as well as an ageing population of carers. We provide year-round support to fostering services to help them attract new foster carers and retain the ones they have.

 Last year, we reached an audience of 30 million with our Foster Care Fortnight campaign. A follow-up survey of fostering services showed that 90 per cent saw an increase in enquiries from prospective carers as a result, with two-fifths seeing enquiries triple.

 We support foster care associations, providing local groups of carers with access to a national network.

 We work across the UK, with project teams based in the North East, South East and South West of England, offices in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and a network of advice and mediation workers across the regions, offering one-to-one support.