The government has launched the country’s first national campaign to recruit foster carers, addressing a decline in the number of fostering households and a rising demand for placements among vulnerable children. Since 2021, the number of fostering households has fallen by 10%, and the foster carer population is aging, with over one-third aged 60 or older.

The initiative aims to create 10,000 new foster care places by the end of the current parliament and seeks to encourage adults in their 30s and 40s to consider fostering. Alongside the campaign, the government is piloting new fostering models, such as short-term “respite fostering” and weekend placements, to make fostering more accessible to a broader range of people balancing other family commitments or work.

Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister compared the campaign’s desired impact to the public response to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, where many opened their homes to refugees. “We need that kind of moment, to prompt people to have conversations in their homes,” he said, urging prospective carers to begin the foster care process without waiting for ideal circumstances. He warned that failing to expand the system risks leaving children in residential care or placed far from their communities.

Marie-France van Heel, the prime minister’s wife, spoke at the campaign’s launch event at Downing Street and shared her own hesitation about fostering. She said concerns related to her husband’s role and the perceived need to “transform” herself had dissuaded her from applying. She described the campaign as a way of dispelling myths and reducing barriers.

Fostering is the primary form of care for looked-after children in England. Out of approximately 81,770 children in care, about 56,400 reside with foster families at any given time. Research by the Coram Institute for Children estimated that more than half a million adults were willing to foster, with up to 3.4 million expressing interest. The institute’s chief executive, Dame Carol Homden, welcomed the government’s ambitious recruitment plans, highlighting a substantial pool of potential carers.

Homden emphasized the importance of retention alongside recruitment, noting that many foster carers quit due to feeling undervalued, lacking support from social workers, and financial pressures. A survey by the Fostering Network found only 33% of carers believed their allowances fully covered the costs of caring for a child. She called for targeted efforts providing clear information and practical assistance to both attract new carers and keep existing ones.

Polling by the Department for Education indicated that two-thirds of respondents believed they could be effective foster carers if practical barriers were removed, underscoring the potential for expanding the foster care system through improved support and accessibility.