Fostering in Worcestershire

Fostering in Worcestershire

As an agency based in the heart of the West Midlands based we have good connections and relationships with all Local Authorities in the area including the children’s team at Worcestershire Council. With that in mind if you are in the Worcestershire area, a really big benefit for you as an F5 Foster Carer is being quite close to our headquarters – Our office has an open door policy so you are free to pop in whenever you like for a chat or to ask any questions, it’s also where we hold the majority of our training and support group meetings.

We are happy to share that we are an approved Foster Carer provider for Worcestershire Council (as well as for all local surrounding Local Authorities) which means that when children and young people from the Worcestershire area in need of Foster homes, Worcestershire Council Childrens Services will forward us a referral to see what suitable homes we have for that child. As such we work with them closely to ensure we recruit and train the most suitable and well matched Foster Carers possible.  

To give you an idea of the scope of fostering, specific to Worcestershire, please see below localised information that you may find helpful. 

How many children are in foster care in Worcestershire?

 It was reported by the Local Authority that on March 31^st 2022 that there were 646 children and young people in foster homes across Worcestershire. This is a number that has been steadily rising over the last 5 years with an increase seen of around 11.5% since 2018. 

Worcestershire Council ‘s Childrens Services will always try to keep Worcestershire based children in Worcestershire (when it is safe an appropriate to do so), as this helps the child to continue with important aspects such as attending school and supervised family time etc, so when we are looking at matching children from this area to potential foster homes, our Worcestershire based Carers will always be a first point of call. Additionally, other neighbouring local authorities such as Birmingham or Solihull for example, will sometimes reach out to Worcestershire based foster carers if they have been unable to find a suitably matched Foster Carer within their own Local Authority. 

Why are the children coming into care?

The reasons that children and young people are entering care across Worcestershire is monitored by the Local Authority. You will see from the details below that overwhelmingly this due to abuse and neglect and family dysfunction. During your assessment and training to become a Foster Carer we will provide you training to understand what impact this may have had on the children that come into your care, their development, their understanding of boundaries or their ability to trust adults to keep them safe.

About the children that come into care 

Children come into care every day of all ages, however we do find that there are certain age groups that have higher numbers, for example; in 2022 children and young people aged 10-17 years account for well over half of children fostered in Worcestershire, followed by 5 -9 years olds 

When you hear us talking about matching, one of the areas that we will always try to match where possible is the ethnic profile of children and their Foster Carers. To give you an idea how this is reflected in Worcestershire, please see the below information as reported by Childrens Services.  This is important information to know as in order to be able to match effectively, there needs to be a foster carer base that reflects the demographics of the city’s children and young people. 

White children and young people make up 84% of the fostered population in Worcestershire, followed by Mixed Heritage children (10%), Asian/Asian British children (4%) , Black/Black British children (1%), and children of other ethnic origins (1%). 

What Foster Carers are needed in Worcestershire?

There is a real need at the moment to increase the number of foster homes across the Worcestershire area. As a whole, we need to recruit committed carers across the board for children of all ages, however, there is a clear and evidenced need to recruit additional Carers that are able to offer homes to children aged 10-17 as the largest proportion of of all fostered children in Worcestershire fall into this age group.

We are also dedicated to keeping siblings together, where appropriate, and as such are in need of homes that are able to consider fostering more than one child.

There is also an increasing demand for mother and baby placements and children with complex medical needs and/or life limiting conditions. 

Full Training and support is provided to our Carers to ensure that they are able to offer the types of placements they would like and are considered suitable for. Click here to find out more about what different types of foster care placements you could offer to children from in and around Worcetershire. Alternatively click here to contact a member of our team or to request a copy of our fostering brochure