Debate contribution: Foster Carers

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 23 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

23 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Foster Carers

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4485644

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Many of the points that I was going to make have already been made by Members who spoke previously. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion, and I thank the DUP Members for tabling it. It gives us the opportunity to acknowledge and commend the essential contribution of foster carers. The benefits of foster care are clear: it provides children with a secure, stable and supportive environment. A foster family can provide a child with a very different and more stable life than they may have otherwise. As the motion says:

"a safe, loving and nurturing home can transform the lives of children and young people ... helping them to reach their full potential".

Foster carers can provide exactly that. As has been noted many times, it is disappointing that fewer people are willing to foster. A significant challenge is the bureaucratic obstacles and barriers that face some willing foster carers. Some of that has been outlined in the 'Review of Children's Social Care Services Report', which was headed by Professor Ray Jones. One concern is that children can be moved several times, often at short notice, either between foster carers or between foster care and residential care. Another issue that was raised in the Ray Jones review relates to the significant variations between our health trusts in staffing structures and numbers. There are some advantages for foster care services in Northern Ireland compared with those in the rest of the UK. For example, there is the comparative absence of intrusion by private commercial companies, which we have seen in England. That can drain funding away from public services. There are also disadvantages, one of which is that Northern Ireland is too small to have five separate public-sector foster care agencies and four independent-sector agencies. As the report states:

"It would be more consistent, equitable, efficient and economic to have one foster care (and adoption) service for Northern Ireland".

That could cover all of Northern Ireland. Avoiding unnecessary competition would provide a more effective service. We also need to move away from foster care being viewed as a volunteer-based service to one that is viewed as a more modern and skills-based service that places children and foster carers at the centre of decision-making. That was suggested over a decade ago in the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) review of statutory fostering services, which was published in 2013. As the Member who moved the motion and many others mentioned, pay remains another issue, but, obviously, that is not the key driver in people's decision to foster children. In addition to the variation on accessing free payments in Northern Ireland, on average, the percentage of paid foster carers in Northern Ireland is significantly lower than that in the rest of the UK. While residential care may be the best solution for some children, it is important that children who need care, nurture and stability in a family environment have that option. There are, of course, other barriers that must be addressed in order to make becoming a foster carer easier. There are major workforce issues involving social workers, the bureaucratic nature of the administrative set-up in Northern Ireland and the inability to work across trusts. Many of those issues were raised in the Ray Jones review. However, financial support is again referred to as a significant issue. I absolutely support the motion's call for a:

"new, ambitious and fully resourced recruitment programme."

That must be combined with action to address the issues that have been raised. Once the barriers are lowered and those who provide foster care can finally feel recognised and empowered as an invaluable part of the workforce, I am confident that willingness to foster will no longer be an issue, which it is now. Those are just a few of the issues that the Department needs to consider in a new recruitment programme. I support the motion's call on the Minister to launch such a programme, and I encourage him to adopt an ambitious approach that fully acknowledges the vital contribution of foster carers across Northern Ireland along with the necessary resources and pay that are required to carry out that important role.

698 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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