Do you have the skills to foster? 

There are 53,000 children in the UK living with foster families. For many of these children, this will be their first positive experience of family life, and a stable and secure home for as long as they need it.

Foster carers offer children a home while their own family is unable to look after them. This is often a short-term arrangement and many fostered children return home. Those who can’t go back to their families but are still able to stay in touch with them may be looked after in long-term foster care.

There is a shortage of 10,000 foster carers across the UK. With more children coming into care and an ageing workforce, this figure is likely to rise. More children will have to move a long way from family, friends and schools, and may not be able to live with their siblings. The shortage also means that too many children are placed with foster carers who do not have the specific skills and experience required to meet the child’s needs. When this happens the arrangement is more likely to break down, and foster carers and children who experience this invariably suffer as a consequence.

More foster carers with the right skills and qualities are urgently needed. Without them the system will struggle to cope and there will be even more disruption and instability for children.

During Foster Care Fortnight, the Fostering Network is calling on people of all ages to come forward and consider fostering. With the strapline Do you have the skills to foster?  the campaign will encourage people to consider a career in fostering and focus on the personal and professional skills that a modern foster carer needs to fulfill their role as a child care expert.

Foster Care Fortnight runs from 17 to 30 May 2010.

To find out more about becoming a foster carer contact your local fostering service, call Fosterline on 0800 040 7675 or visit www.couldyoufoster.org.uk.

There are many different types of fostering. Some foster carers choose to specialise in one area of fostering, but others opt to take a mixture of children with very different needs. Not all foster carers foster seven days a week; some look after children for occasional overnight stays, and others offer short breaks or specialist care for a clearly identified period.

By Ellie Jones, the Fostering Network