Debate contribution: Foster Carers

Debate contribution by Mr Robin Swann on 23 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Robin Swann

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

23 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Foster Carers

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4485658

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and again put on record my deep appreciation of foster carers for caring for our children and young people. I was pleased to be able to translate my respect and appreciation for foster carers into a practical support when I was in this role during the pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic, our trusts provided a £100 one-off payment to foster parents to enable them to purchase materials to help to keep children occupied whilst at home. In addition, I made almost £1·4 million available to uplift fostering allowances in 2021 and March 2022, and I made available the additional payment that was referenced earlier and that required funding of almost £1 million to help to sustain foster placements during what was a very challenging time for families. Furthermore, at that point, foster parents in Northern Ireland were included in group 2 of the COVID vaccination programme alongside front-line health and social care workers. Northern Ireland was the only region of the UK to take that step. It has been said, however, that this is not just about the money. I think that it was Mrs Dodds who, when she proposed the motion, said that it was about valuing foster carers. I recognise that those were short-term measures and that there is a real need to develop a sustainable recruitment and retention plan for foster carers that will encourage new carers to come forward and support our existing foster parents to continue in the vital role that they perform. I want to take a moment to set out the context in which foster parents are caring for children. As was referenced, the number of looked-after children is higher today than it has ever been, with almost 4,000 children in care. Over 80% of those in care are looked after in a foster care placement. The A Life Deserved: Caring for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland strategy for our looked-after children recognises that we are fortunate in Northern Ireland that so many of our children in care are able to live with foster carers in a stable home environment, but it also recognises the challenges facing foster carers and is clear about the need to support them. That strategy identifies the need for an effective recruitment plan and improved support for foster carers. In line with commitments in that strategy, a regional approach to the recruitment of foster carers has been in place since 2020, when the HSC NI adoption and fostering service was launched. It is that service that recruits, trains and supports foster carers and takes an always-recruiting approach to keep fostering in the public arena. The passage of the Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) in April 2022 was another important step in bringing forward legislation to strengthen the arrangements for assessing and approving foster carers.

I expect to be able to bring forward those new fostering agency regulations before the summer.

In March 2023, there were 3,140 children in foster care — 83% of children in care. In addition, 315 young care leavers were living with their former foster carers as part of the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) scheme. That GEM scheme will be placed on a statutory basis under the Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. Importantly, the balance of children placed in kinship care and non-kinship care has shifted dramatically in recent years. In March 2019, 52% of children in foster care were living with non-kin foster parents, while 48% were living with kinship carers. Since March 2020, however, that has changed, and a greater proportion of children in foster care have been placed with family members or friends. At March 2023, 55% of children in foster care were living in kinship care, while 45% were living with non-kin foster carers. That shift is also evident in the number of foster parents available to care for children. At this point, I acknowledge the contribution made by kinship carers to the lives of children and young people — the grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles who step up to care for children who can no longer live with their parents. They do that often at great sacrifice to themselves and their plans for the future. They act out of love, care and compassion. The number of foster carers has increased by just 9% in the last five years, compared with a corresponding increase in the number of children in care of 16% over the same period. The number of kinship carers over the same five-year period from March 2019 to March 2023 increased by 22%. The number of non-kinship carers, however, fell by 6%. That is significant, because living with close family members or friends whom they know and trust is of benefit to those children, but it is also important to acknowledge that kinship carers may require additional support to help them care for the child or children whom they are looking after. I want to be clear that foster carers are provided with support. Social workers across the trusts work tirelessly to build supportive relationships with foster carers and to help them through every step of the fostering journey. Foster carers in Northern Ireland can benefit from a range of support, including training and development opportunities, financial allowances, dedicated support groups and bespoke resources and services. I thank the Members for tabling the motion: it is clear that we need to do more. In the year to March 2023, the Regional Adoption and Fostering Service received 573 enquiries about fostering. Excluding those who came forward in response to a targeted young refugee appeal, that represented a 54% reduction in enquiries from the previous year. I agree with Members that action is needed now to turn that around. The current level of foster care allowances are a concern, and it is a matter of regret that it was possible to increase foster care allowances by only 3% last year. That was because of the absence of a confirmed Budget for 2024-25. Unfortunately, it is also not possible for me to make a firm commitment today on the level of increase for this year. However, I have asked my officials to develop early proposals for my consideration and to ensure that any uplift in allowances is communicated and paid to foster carers as quickly as possible. I stress that an uplift in foster care allowances will have resource implications in the context of the severe budgetary constraints faced by my Department, but I will carefully consider any proposals to increase foster allowances. I also want to review how we use all the funding that is currently available to us in the most effective way, in addition to the payment of allowances, because we also pay fees. The totality of that investment is more than £60 million annually. I have asked again for an examination of how that funding is used, in order to determine whether we are using it as effectively as possible and whether there is scope to do something differently. As has been said by many contributors to the debate, financial support is important, but I also want to see more practical and emotional support provided to foster carers. One of the areas where, foster carers have told us, they need more support is during investigations. A review of the process for handling complaints and allegations against foster carers is under way. That is to ensure that complaints and those who are the subject of a complaint are treated fairly and to ensure that foster carers are clear about the process and the support that they can expect to receive while concerns are being investigated. I expect a new policy to be operational later this year. Foster parents are in the unique position of caring for a child 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I want to see the knowledge of foster parents better reflected in the planning for those in their care. A review of current planning in looked-after child review arrangements has commenced and is in its early stages. Alongside children and young people, foster carers will have a key role in informing that review and, importantly, future decision-making processes. At this point, I will pick up on what Mr Elliott said and ensure that his comments and reflections are included in that work. In the longer term, the continued roll-out of the Northern Ireland framework for integrated therapeutic care will expand into foster care settings. The framework recognises the valuable contribution of everyone in a child's caregiving network, including foster carers, and the importance of supporting those people so that they, in turn, can help children. I am also bringing forward new regulations to update the legislative framework for fostering and to bring fostering agencies within the scope of registration with the RQIA. The regulations aim to improve the assessment and approval process for foster parents and will place new duties on trusts and adoption agencies in respect of the information, training and support that they provide to foster carers. It is intended that the new regulations will be complemented by new standards that will, again, be developed in partnership with foster parents and those for whom they care. In time, our new special guardianship orders (SGOs) will also be introduced. SGOs will enable greater permanence for some foster children, enabling them to leave care with continued support and assistance provided to them and their guardians. All of that is taking place in the context of much wider reform of children's social care services following the publication of the independent review led by Professor Ray Jones that I commissioned. Professor Jones highlighted the challenges in foster care. He also considered the high proportion of children placed in kinship care to be a particular strength, however. The review recommended that previous reviews of foster care policies and services be updated and acted on now and not allowed to drift. As I have said, I expect to bring forward new fostering regulations by the summer. Work is under way to develop the accompanying standards. I also recommended that the experience and expertise of foster carers be harnessed through, for example, the region-wide introduction of the Mockingbird model to enhance the support and status of foster carers. Professor Ray Jones was clear that foster carers should be recognised and positioned as valued members of the children's social care team. That recommendation was accepted from the outset and has been identified as one of the guiding principles to inform the implementation of the review's other recommendations and the associated reform programme. That reform programme has been in place since April 2023 and has a work stream dedicated to improving the recruitment and retention of foster carers, in recognition of their vital role in our children's social care system. That work stream has already carried out much of the necessary exploratory work to inform the new approaches to recruiting and retaining foster carers. I am clear that it is now time for us to take specific actions that will help stabilise, support and expand foster care services. Those actions must include improving our capacity to engage with potential foster carers, learning from successful recruitment and retention measures in other areas and improving the process to assess and approve new foster carers. I need to acknowledge, however, the high vacancy rates in children's social care services, including in the fostering teams, that are impacting on teams' ability to engage with and support potential foster carers and progress new applications. Actions are being taken to address the recruitment and retention difficulties, but there is more work to do.

I will, yes.

The Member makes a valuable point about those training places. Yesterday, I engaged with officials on the submission with regard to what budget would be assigned to that. As the Member well knows, I currently do not have a budget. I am working with a flatline budget for the training places that I can currently commission. I have not received firm recommendations from my officials, but social work and social workers are high-priority. I see a recognised need because of issues that have been raised today. I would like to look on that favourably. I want to get back to the issue that the Member raised about the specific number of children in care in her area. I assure her that we are working with the Belfast Trust to better understand the reasons why children are being taken into care, by considering the available data and comparing practice across the trust, particularly in North Belfast, because the pattern is not uniform across the trust. We need to understand why that is the case and see what can be done to address that. In responding to the consultation on the children's services review, people were clear about the need for improved support for foster carers and meaningful engagement with them. I expect to receive detailed advice on the next steps to implement Professor Jones's recommendations in the coming weeks. I will have the voices of foster carers and children in my mind as I consider that advice and make decisions on the way forward.

2,208 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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