Councils Award £4.4m Funding For Foster Care Recruitment
Fitzgerald Fostering has welcomed the news that the Department for Education has awarded £4.4 million to councils in the South East to boost foster carer recruitment in the region, with Bracknell Forest Council set to receive £2.4 million.
The funding comes at a time when the number of children needing a foster home is at an all-time high. There are 82,170 children across the UK currently in care and only 57,540 are living with foster carers. There is a significant gap between the number of children who need care and the number of fostering families available, with The Social Market Foundation predicting the current number of fostering households will decrease by 25,000 by 2026.
James Townend, Managing Director at Fitzgerald Fostering said, “The need for more foster carers has never been more acute and it is vital that there is an increased focus on retaining and recruiting more foster carers to give homes to vulnerable children and young adults who cannot live with their families on a short-term or long-term basis. As one of the leading independent foster agencies in Berkshire, Fitzgerald Fostering works closely with local authorities sharing a common goal of providing better outcomes for children in care. We strongly believe that effective fostering is a blend of public and private partnership, putting the needs of foster children and foster carers front and centre”.
“Foster caring can be very rewarding but there are inevitably challenges along the way. At Fitzgerald Fostering, we support our foster carers in Berkshire every step of their journey, providing outstanding training, supervision and ongoing support. This enables them to give the best possible care to the children and young people they look after.”
Fitzgerald Fostering will be hosting a number of foster carer recruitment events in 2024. Full details will be posted on our website and shared on our social media channels by the end of February.
To register your interest in attending, please visit our contact page or call 01753 550031.