Stretched social services face desperate shortage of foster carers as they fight to meet demands in Blackpool

How long can this go on?
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This is the question being faced by stretched social services in Blackpool and beyond as they face a desperate foster carer shortage - painting a ‘bleak picture’ for the ever-increasing numbers of vulnerable children entering the system.

Foster carer numbers are at an all-time low in Blackpool, despite a growing number of people expressing their interest in looking after children in need.

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Only one in 15 households enquiring about fostering in the resort goes on to make an application, new figures from Ofsted have revealed.

Foster carer numbers are at an all-time low in BlackpoolFoster carer numbers are at an all-time low in Blackpool
Foster carer numbers are at an all-time low in Blackpool

Records show that 290 households approached Blackpool Council about fostering in 2020/21, but only 20 (seven per cent) made an application.

This was lower than six years before, when 129 enquiries were received, and 20 (16 per cent) households going on to make an application.

This means that an increasing number of vulnerable children taken into care will not be housed locally with loving families - and face the possibility of being sent to other areas where carers are available, or being split up from brothers and sisters.

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A Blackpool grandmother whose grandchildren ‘Abigail’, five, ‘Zoe’, three, and ‘William’*, two, were separated after being taken into care due to a lack of carers available to take on three children, said: “(Social services) are saying they have no foster carers, but there are people out there willing to put themselves forward. I just don’t understand it."

“It doesn’t give families much hope. You want everything to be OK, then this happens. I think that’s what scares people."

“It will affect the children massively because they have always been together. Abigail mothers the other two, and she’s on her own now. I feel absolutely disgusted, and I have said this. I’m disgusted by the way things have been handled.

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“If people are willing to become foster carers, why not go around and talk to them? This report shows that people have come forward - so where are they?”

Some 155 households have been approved for foster care in Blackpool in the past year, providing 395 foster places.

Of these, 30 were approved between April 2020 and March 2021.

Leanne Porter, 34, from Cleveleys, who has fostered more than 30 children over a period of seven years with her husband Jon, said: “I think there is a great shortage of foster carers, but I couldn’t say why.

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“I wouldn’t say it’s hard to get into, but it’s quite long-winded. It does take a good six to nine months to become a foster carer.

“I thought numbers were perking up. People seemed to be re-evaluating their lives during lockdown, staying at home with their children, and maybe decided that fostering is something they wanted to do. Then, of course, everyone went back to work and life went on.

“I absolutely love fostering. I love seeing the children come to me, giving them a loving home and sending them back to their parents.

“Some parents just need a little help along the way, or they need to develop themselves, and it’d be lovely to see (the children) go back home.

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“It’s different to parenting your own children, because these children are dealing with trauma. Some people think fostering babies is easier, but even they come from places of trauma. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but there’s support and help from social workers and other carers. We have our own little fostering network where we share our worries. It’s a nice little community.

“I would definitely encourage people to become carers. I speak to all my friends about it, and I’m always on call.”

Sadly, Blackpool is not the only area facing a desperate shortage of foster homes.

In the past year, England has seen a record high for initial inquiries about fostering - and an all-time low in terms of actual applications.

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There were 160,635 initial inquiries about fostering made in 2020/21, up 55 per cent since 2014/15.

However just 10,145 (six per cent) led to formal applications - half the proportion of applicants seen in 2014/15.

While the number of fostering households in England has increased by 2 per cent between 2014/15 and 2020/21, the number of children in foster care has increased by 11 per cent - with the type of carers available not always matching the needs of vulnerable children, Ofsted said.

Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said ‘urgent action’ was required to boost numbers.

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“Today’s statistics paint a bleak picture. Year on year, we see more children coming into foster care and too few carers with the right skills to give them the support they deserve,” she said.

“How long can this go on before the care system reaches breaking point?

“We rarely see children coming into care who don’t need to be, but with the right help earlier, some may be able to remain with their families.”

*Names have been changed to protect the children’s identities

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