Conversations with Foster Carers Sandwell May 2024

Report - 17 June 2024

The rewards of foster caring extend far beyond the positive influence on a child; as fostering can lead to personal growth, fulfilment, and a sense of purpose to your own life. As of 31st March 2021, there were 45,370 fostering households and 76,640 foster carers in England. This is a 2% and 4% increase since 2014 to 2015, respectively.

However, over the period up to March 2020, the number of children in foster care grew by around 11%. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fostering-in-england

There are over 240 internal carers that Sandwell Children’s Trust support along with several connected carers, relative carers and also external carers (located outside the borough) who are supported by external companies. Overall, there is a shortage of carers to care for the 800 plus children we have in care.

Healthwatch were kindly invited to attend the Voices Heard Foster event on Wednesday 29th May at Coneygre Community Centre in Tipton. The event was a celebration of Foster caring in Sandwell and an information and promotion event showcasing local support services. But mostly important, it gave both foster carers and fostered children an opportunity to share their experiences.

We were able to talk to foster parents about some of the challenges that they face in accessing services to support their fostered child or children.

Read our report to see what people shared with us.

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Conversation with Foster Carers Sandwell May 2024
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