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A child comes into care and needs a foster family every 22 minutes across the UK, the Fostering Network has revealed today.

 

A child comes into care and needs a foster family every 22 minutes across the UK, the Fostering Network has revealed today. The alarming figure highlights the growing pressure on the care system and the scale of the challenge facing fostering services already struggling with a shortage of foster carers.Last year, more than 24,000 children came into care and needed fostering, an increase of 17 per cent compared to 2008. And the total number of children who are fostered has risen for five years in a row.

 

Figures from Cafcass have shown a record number of applications for care orders in recent months in England, suggesting the pressure on foster care is set to continue unless more people come forward to foster. An estimated 8,750 new foster families are needed across the UK in 2012 alone, and ahead of this year’s Foster Care Fortnight (starts Monday 14 May) the Fostering Network is urging more people to become foster carers. Without these extra families, too many children won’t get the right foster home first time. They end up living a long way from family, friends and school, are repeatedly moved around as fostering relationships break down, or even end up in residential care when fostering has been identified as their best option.

 

Clare Marshall was in care from the age of two. After being moved around more than 40 times, she lived in a stable long-term foster home. She said: “I had some tough experiences at the start, but I think it gave me the determination, inspiration and ambition I needed. My foster carer, who I now see as my mum, always instilled good values in me and she’s why I’ve been successful and gone on to university. She’s encouraged me to go for everything I want to achieve and has been the biggest inspiration in my life.”

 

Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, said: “More than 24,000 children who came into care last year were fostered. That means a foster home has to be found every 22 minutes. This figure highlights the overwhelming need for more people to come forward to foster. With more foster families, children in care will have a better chance of finding the stability and security they need to go on and achieve their potential.”

 

Jim Bond, a foster carer who looks after teenagers, said: “Nearly 20 years ago I decided to give up a career in teaching to become a foster carer, and it is the best decision I could have made. I feel proud to have been able to make a difference to the lives of so many children and I would urge others to consider doing the same. So, this Foster Care Fortnight, why not find out more and see if you’ve got what it takes?”

 
To find out more about fostering, visit www.22minutes.org.uk