Foster care crisis call in Hartlepool
The figures come in the middle of Foster Care Fortnight – May 10 to 23 – a nationwide drive for thousands more foster families.
Ofsted figures show that, in Hartlepool around 45 initial enquiries about fostering were received between April 2019 and March last year – resulting in just 10 applications being submitted.
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Hide AdAt the end of March 2020, there were around 140 households opening their doors to vulnerable children in the area, with an estimated 185 youngsters living with foster families – 58% of the area’s 316 looked after children,
Of those, 20 were approved to offer permanent places, with 50 given permission to foster children of family or friends.
The figures for 2019-20 also show 16 children in the area moved between placements at least three times.
Experts are calling for more people to come forward to ensure there is a larger pool of fosterers.
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Hide AdSadie Constable from the Fostering Network said thousands of new carers could ensure every child in need of a foster family is placed with people who have the right skills to care for them “at the first time of asking”.
She added: “We know that multiple moves between foster homes once a child comes into care can be destabilising for them, so it’s vital that we have the numbers of skilled foster carers needed to make sure that this doesn’t happen.”