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Foster Carer Recruitment Targets

Seventy-five percent of the 100,437 children in care in the UK today reside with foster families. Due to the inability to find a foster family in the area, these children—an estimated one in five in England—are frequently placed more than 20 miles from their homes.

According to the Fostering Network, at least 6,500 more foster families must be found by fostering services in the UK in the upcoming year alone. Every fifteen minutes, a child in the UK enters foster care and may require a foster family. In the UK, 53,000 foster families are home to about 70,000 children. This represents almost 75% of the 100,437 children in foster care in the UK on any given day.

Over the course of a year, an additional 38,000 children enter the system, and a comparable number exit it to go back to their homes, live with other family members, live with new adoptive families, be subject to a special guardianship or residence order, or enter adulthood.

Foster care offers children a loving, safe, and secure family setting.

Due to the inability to find a foster family in some areas, these children—an estimated one in five in England—are frequently placed more than 20 miles from their homes. According to the Fostering Network, at least 6,500 more foster families must be found by fostering services in the UK in the upcoming year alone. In order to guarantee that every child receives the care they require and is supported in their community, we urgently need more foster families in the UK.

Foster families that can support sibling groups are especially needed to make sure kids can be cared for together and maintain their ties to their families.

Below, courtesy of the Fostering Network, you will see a couple of tables breaking down the number of foster families needed across the UK, broken down by area.

UK6,500
England5,400
Northern Ireland400
Scotland400
Wales300

Break down across areas in England

North East370
North West760
Yorkshire and the Humber580
East Midlands380
West Midlands700
East of England450
London780
South East910
South West470

Beacon Fostering has a focus on recruiting more foster carers in the North West of England, which as shown, is important as there is a real need for foster carers within the area. As an agency our aim is to improve this number by recruiting foster carers which provides children with a brighter future.

If you would like to foster with Beacon Fostering and improve the shortage of foster carers across the country click here and request a call back from a member of our recruitment team.