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Foster carers and staff from all fostering providers in Northern Ireland came together for this annual event, and foster carers were given the opportunity to take part in a variety of workshops that ranged from yoga to study skills, and a whole lot more in between. 

You don’t have to be a good cook to foster, revealed children and young people in foster care as part of a new survey conducted by The Fostering Network to mark the start of Foster Care Fortnight 2016 (16-29 May). 

Instead the overwhelming call was for foster carers who can provide them with security, support and love.

Foster carers are invited to click on the link on the time they can take part and register for a place:

13 September 2023 at 10.30am - Book a place on this tax and national insurance webinar here.  

13 November 2023 at 7.30pm - Book a place on this tax and national insurance webinar here.  

The Fostering Network welcomes the findings of The House of Commons Education Select Committee's recent report, Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Looked After Children. The report highlights the fact that looked after children are four times more likely than their peers in the general population to experience mental health problems but that they face a number of challenges in accessing the appropriate mental health support.

The annual Fostering Excellence Awards take place in autumn and they shine a spotlight on the young people, foster carers, social workers and others who make a positive contribution to fostering.

You can nominate someone who you consider to have made an outstanding contribution to foster carer in the following categories:

The survey, CUTS - the view from foster carers (England):  the impact of austerity measures on fostered children and the families that care for them, carried out in February 2016, highlighted the negative impact of local authority budget cuts in a number of areas, including practical and financial support for foster carers, children’s access to their social workers and other services, especially mental health services.  

The recommended national minimum allowance rates for foster carers in England for 2016-17 published by the Department for Education show there will be no increase.

​Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at The Fostering Network said: 'We believe that no foster carer should be out of pocket as a result of fostering. These are minimum levels which means some foster carers, particularly those looking after children with disabilities, will have higher costs and allowances will need to reflect that.

“While we cannot expect dramatic and immediate change in educational outcomes for young people in care, it is positive to see a consistent improvement over time. There is clearly still a long way to go, but we know that being in foster care can improve educational outcomes; University of Oxford research (2015) showed that educational outcomes are higher for fostered children compared with those living on the edge of care.

The Reclaim Care digital platform, created as part of the Department for Education funded Inspiring Voices project, allows children, young people, and care leavers, to share their successes in the form of a meme and to upload it into the gallery of achievements.

Sara Lurie, director of The Fostering Network Scotland, said: ‘Scotland is taking a progressive stance when it comes to the higher education of care experienced young people, and we must say that this is a positive step in the right direction.

‘While over time more must be done to narrow the inequality gap in education between children in care and their peers at all levels of education, giving those children and young people a tangible and realistic goal to aim for will inspire many to go on to higher education.