State of the Nations’ Foster Care 2024 Report launched at Parliament

We were honoured to attend The Fostering Network’s 50th anniversary celebration and sponsor the State of the Nations’ Foster Care 2024 Report launch at the Houses of Parliament in February. It was good to see so many foster carers, social service staff, MPs and fostering advocates come together. The challenges facing foster carers are significant, but so is the drive for change across the fostering sector. We believe it’s time to make fostering more sustainable for all foster carers, children and young people.

Sarah Thomas CEO of The Fostering Network said: at the launch: “As a sector, we must act collaboratively and courageously to address the issues set out in this research.” The Fostering Network highlighted that it is crucial across the whole of the UK that services are able to consistently recruit new foster carers, as well as retain the ones they already have. They have estimated that around 6,500 more foster families are needed across the UK to make sure every child receives the care they need and is well supported in their community. The report revealed that when fostering services were asked what they consider to be the primary reasons preventing suitable applicants from enquiring to foster, 31 % said a lack of space in the home.
Enzo Mora CEO and founder of The Mortgage Brain says: “The Mortgage Brain is extremely proud of our partnership with The Fostering Network and to be able to support the Fostering community. It was our privilege to sponsor the 50th anniversary celebrations and the launch of The State of The Nations report.”

Katie MacLeod Regional Manager at The Mortgage Brain says: “Since 2018 we have worked tirelessly to advocate for improvements in criteria and policy for foster carers in the financial sector. We recognise the outstanding contribution that foster carers make to society and the importance of them having a home. We will continue to strive for and advocate for change and to educate lenders about the work that foster carers do and how they are remunerated for this. We are proud to be paving the way for change and to be providing a voice for foster carers in the financial sector. We are pleased to be able to play a small role in assisting the fostering community. We have directly impacted the mortgage market for foster carers growing the number of lenders able to assist foster carers effectively from 3 to 20+ and will continue to work towards improvements. As a result of the State of the Nations survey, we will be setting up focus groups for Foster Carers and service staff to attend, to give them the chance to tell us how we can help, and we will then continue to advocate on their behalf. ”

Read the full report here: thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/sotn