CoramBAAF statement on Government's revised fostering standards and guidance consultation
The Government announced on 8 July a number of significant reforms and consultations relating to fostering and children in care. These developments have the potential to shape the future of fostering services and the experiences of children and foster carers across England.
Central to these announcements is a consultation on revised fostering standards and guidance, which is open until 16 September. The proposed changes represent a fundamental rewrite of the current framework, with a stronger focus on outcomes for children and on what fostering services should be providing to achieve ambitious and excellent quality support.
Key proposals include:
- Children's outcomes, stability and wellbeing, including supporting foster carers to build strong, trusted and lasting relationships with children, underpinning each quality and development standard.
- The replacement of the 31 National Minimum Standards with seven new Quality Standards for fostering services.
- The replacement of the Training, Support and Development Standards with seven Development Standards covering the first year following approval.
- Revised operational guidance focused on how fostering services should carry out their duties and responsibilities.
- The consolidation and simplification of the current standards and guidance into a single document.
The Government has also stated that the reforms are intended to provide clearer national expectations for the sector, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, support more consistent, relationship-based practice and allow for more regional/ local approaches to the expectations.
Alongside these proposals, there is the announcement of the creation of four new Fostering Hubs and five new Regional Care Cooperatives. This signals a continued focus on regional approaches to foster care, commissioning and wider arrangements for children in care. The Government has said these developments are intended to strengthen local and regional capacity, improve sufficiency and ensure more children can access the right care and support closer to home.
CoramBAAF welcomes the significant focus the Government has given to fostering and children in care, and we look forward to engaging with members, practitioners, foster carers, those with lived experience and sector partners to inform our response. We will shortly be seeking members' views on the proposed changes to the new standards and will be submitting our own consultation response. We also plan to host an event to explore the revised standards and guidance in more detail, helping practitioners understand the key areas of change and their implications for practice.
As these reforms progress, we will continue to work with local authorities, Regional Care Cooperatives, Fostering Hubs and independent fostering agencies to support implementation and ensure that the advice, practice guidance and support we provide remains relevant and applicable to emerging service models and arrangements.We encourage members to take part in the consultation, and join our upcoming events, practice forums and other engagement opportunities.