Privatised foster care - Did you know about it?

The councils are failing families. It’s a national disgrace that’s not being spoken about.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002n0hg

Yes, privatized like the water companies .

It has been the case for many years.

My best friend was a foster carer for many years. She was with the council for several years but then went with an agency. The pay rates were better but I don’t think she was very impressed with some of the staff.

Yes, I knew about this.
Pretty grim.
However not all are dreadful as is suggested here.
And they are at least checked under Ofstead.

We have one nearby. It's a "family sized" home with regular staffing. Expensive but not like the ones described in the video.

The pay is double that of the S/S, which surprised me.

I'm not surprised that fostering is privatised. More and more councils are in dire financial straits, the latest being Bedford. I don't think that local councils should be expected to pick up the tab for social care, it should be government funded.

Our council tax for the year ending this month was:
34.7% on elderly and vulnerable
23.5% caring for young people and delivering statutory services for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Total on social care: 58.2% of our council tax

That doesn't leave much for everything else, only 22.4% on bins and highways, yet people keep complaining about potholes and fly tipping, and asking what their council tax goes on. Well it's social care.

I agree that councils are struggling mostly because of ever-increasing social care costs. There isn't enough money to fund it properly. I think it's also a systemic issue. Just like in housing where councils pay billions to house people in hotels and B&B's due to the low number of council homes. They are haemorrhaging money into temporary solutions. There is a need for a systemic overhaul.

Chestnut, it used to come out of central government money but this changed during austerity. The government knew it would put local authorities under pressure but it went ahead anyway.

Agree entirely with Chestnut that council tax is not the right mechanism for funding social care. In principle that’s a separate point. Things are certainly not helped when increases in the council tax are made such a political football.

In practice a vicious circle is created with private agencies enticing in foster carers with bețter pay, leaving councils with no alternative but to use these agencies, and then pick up the pieces when placements break down, all increasing the costs of care.

To be fair foster carers are paid well by local authorities anyway

I know a lot of people don't like to follow social media links, but this one is relevant to this topic.

Financial problems with children in care in Hartlepool and apparent government indifference.

bsky.app/profile/barheys.bsky.social/post/3mg33icvzrs2j

Apple3pie

I agree that councils are struggling mostly because of ever-increasing social care costs. There isn't enough money to fund it properly. I think it's also a systemic issue. Just like in housing where councils pay billions to house people in hotels and B&B's due to the low number of council homes. They are haemorrhaging money into temporary solutions. There is a need for a systemic overhaul.

I agree, but privately fostering has been around for years and years and hasn’t solved any issues.

JaneJudge

To be fair foster carers are paid well by local authorities anyway

That depends on how you’re looking at this, a large proportion of foster parents allowances are to fund said foster child, clothes, school uniform, toys, phones, books, bus fares, school trips etc etc

Also factor in that many many children in care either have disabilities (extra allowances paid) or severe trauma, or both, it is a job though many foster parents do this role because they want to help.

By the time one factors in time and the allowances spent directly on foster children, foster parents probably “earn” far less than minimum wage, if you work it out across an early basis.

Chocolatelovinggran

It has been the case for many years.

Many, many years. Fostering in the UK has never been fully “privatised” in the sense of being removed from public responsibility. Local authorities remain legally responsible for children in care. However, independent (private and voluntary) fostering agencies were introduced and expanded at different stages.

Before the 1980s – Fully Local Authority Run
After the Children Act 1948, fostering was almost entirely managed by local authorities. Foster carers were recruited, assessed, and supported by councils. There was no significant private fostering agency sector at this time.

1980s–1990s – Introduction of Independent Fostering Agencies
The shift began during the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, when market-based reforms were introduced across public services. The key legal moment was the Children Act 1989. This came into force in 1991 Allowing local authorities to place children with independent fostering agencies (IFAs). This step formally established a mixed system and is generally considered the starting point of fostering “marketisation”, not full privatisation.

MaizieD

I know a lot of people don't like to follow social media links, but this one is relevant to this topic.

Financial problems with children in care in Hartlepool and apparent government indifference.

bsky.app/profile/barheys.bsky.social/post/3mg33icvzrs2j

An already biased view then.

Cossy

Apple3pie

I agree that councils are struggling mostly because of ever-increasing social care costs. There isn't enough money to fund it properly. I think it's also a systemic issue. Just like in housing where councils pay billions to house people in hotels and B&B's due to the low number of council homes. They are haemorrhaging money into temporary solutions. There is a need for a systemic overhaul.

I agree, but privately fostering has been around for years and years and hasn’t solved any issues.

I wasn't advocating for privatisation, quite the opposite! I don't think profit-oriented companies should be anywhere near fields where there is a public need like social care, health care etc.

They've been around for years. I applied to be a foster carer for the council about 20 years ago, I was rejected due to my eldest son and our (lack of) relationship. But they then sent me lots of information about private fostering, I applied and they accepted me with little to no issues at all. The pay was a lot more than the council but the support was practically none existent, the training was almost laughable, I specifically wanted to foster pregnant teenagers and they said my experience of being a teenage mother was enough and I didn't need further training... I was a pregnant teenager 20 years previously! And while I had to pass an enhanced crb they didn't do any background checks about me or close family members that would have been around the foster kids. I decided not to do it in the end because I strongly felt if something was to go wrong or something bad happen then I'd have had no support and would have carried all the blame regardless.

Private fostering has been around for decades. Private placements may well have faults just as those via S.S. have faults to.

Before they came to live with my daughter, my grandchildren were with a private foster carer for several years during Covid and she was not great. It sounds trivial, but she never let them play outside or took them for walks, never listened to my granddaughter read, and seems to have fed them on oven cooked breaded chicken pieces and chips.
Supervision by social workers is often very sketchy to say the least in these cases - though even those carers who foster through the local authority find that social workers change posts frequently and are not thorough or supportive to foster carers.
The training before fostering for the local authority lasts a year in this area and is very thorough, and fosterers have to take more courses every year to keep up to date. I help my daughter out sometimes with her foster children and they ensured that I had a DBS check.

Cossy

Also factor in that many many children in care either have disabilities (extra allowances paid) or severe trauma, or both, it is a job though many foster parents do this role because they want to help.

Another problem is that fostered children are not always properly assessed for SEN, they slip through the net.

JaneJudge

To be fair foster carers are paid well by local authorities anyway

This is simply not the case. They get "allowances" which are not generous, and unless you have a number of foster children living with you it is unlikely that it would be anywhere near the average wage. The allowances cover the cost of feeding, clothing and caring for the children, with part supposed to be going into a savings account for when the young person leaves care.