Flexible Care Models Targeted to Alleviate England’s Child Placement Shortfall

Viennetta Basterfield, 67, devoted two decades to fostering over 100 children from her west London home before she and her husband retired during the Covid pandemic.

Having lost her mother at age nine and being raised by a caring woman, she resolved from an early age to devote her life to providing that same support to other children.

“I was nervous about each placement, wondering if we would be safe and if the children would accept us,” she explained. “Yet it proved to be the most rewarding experience of my life; we now share full houses for Sunday meals, Christmas, and birthdays.”

She emphasizes that “the greatest gift you can give a child is to demonstrate that they matter.”

Nevertheless, she worries that the complex bureaucracy and younger generations’ hesitations—particularly those balancing fostering with caring for their own children—are deterring potential carers.

On Wednesday, the government launched its inaugural national campaign to recruit foster carers, responding to declining numbers amid a rising population of children in care.

Since 2021, the number of fostering households has fallen by 10%, and the foster care community is ageing, with more than one‑third of carers now aged 60 or older.

The appeal targets adults in their 30s and 40s, urging them to “open their hearts and homes to some of the most vulnerable children,” aiming to create 10,000 new foster care placements by the end of the parliamentary term.

It will be implemented alongside trials of innovative models, such as short‑term respite fostering and weekend fostering, intended to broaden accessibility.

Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister said he hoped the public would respond to the campaign as they did to the Homes for Ukraine initiative, when many opened their homes to refugees.

“There was a powerful national moment when people asked themselves if they could help, and we need a similar moment to spark conversations in every home,” he said.

“While many families may be unable to participate, we aim to broaden fostering by making it intergenerational and part‑time, among other options,” he added.

He urged families not to wait for a “perfect moment,” saying they already possess much of what is needed: “Just step forward, begin the process, and see where it leads.”

“Unless we rapidly and dramatically expand the foster care system, children will continue to reside in residential care when they could thrive in family homes, often being moved far from the places they know,” he warned.

Speaking at a Downing Street event ahead of the campaign on Tuesday, Marie-France van Heel, the prime minister’s wife, disclosed for the first time that she had wanted to foster children.

She had been discouraged by her husband’s demanding job and the belief that she needed to “transform herself into a different kind of person” to provide foster care. “This campaign aims to dispel those myths and misconceptions,” she said.

Fostering remains the primary form of care for looked-after children in England; of the 81,770 children in care, approximately 56,400 are placed in foster homes at any given time.

New research by the Coram Institute for Children revealed that more than half a million adults wish to foster, with an estimated 3.4 million expressing interest.

Dame Carol Homden, CEO of Coram, noted a “substantial pool of people open to becoming foster carers” and welcomed the government’s ambitious recruitment plans.

Their research identified groups with higher fostering propensity—women, larger households, and individuals from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, especially black households—that could be targeted.

However, Homden emphasized the need to focus on retaining existing foster carers alongside recruiting new ones.

Research indicates that factors such as feeling undervalued or ignored by social workers and financial strain—only 33 % of carers report allowances fully covering child‑rearing costs—are driving foster carers to leave the sector.

“We must prioritize targeted outreach, provide clear information and practical support to enhance both recruitment and retention of foster carers,” Homden said.

Department for Education polling found that two‑thirds (66 %) of people believe they could be effective foster carers if practical barriers were removed.

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