Recruitment of foster carers between services

NAFP acknowledges and respects that there may be circumstances, reasons and personal choice, when a foster carer decides to transfer between fostering services. NAFP believes this decision should be facilitated by the foster carer transfer protocol.

There continues to be a small number of fostering services, including both local authorities and independent fostering agencies (IFA), that proactively market to existing foster carers, or directly approach, to ‘transfer to us’, offering a financial or other inducement. This can be of significant value to the new service if a foster carer transfers with children in placement and a significant loss to the previous service, who would have invested in recruitment, preparation, ongoing training and support.

NAFP makes the following statement in relation to this:

• It is for individual fostering services to choose how to recruit and retain the carers that are the best fit for their agencies. This should not be undertaken in a way that is detrimental to children or foster carers and supports a positive, child-centred approach.
• It is in the best interests of all children in need of a foster family that services expand the number and choice of foster carers available. This is achieved by recruiting new people to fostering, rather than by encouraging existing foster carers to move between agencies. With more choice, there is a greater likelihood that a child will be placed with carers that are the best match.
• Proactively marketing to existing carers, or approaching them directly, to encourage transfer from one service to another does not increase recruitment of new fostering households and can be detrimental to care that is afforded to children. This method of recruitment impacts all fostering services and can lead to a breakdown in partnership working that is implicit in this sector.
• Financial reward should not be the most important factor for foster carers when choosing an agency. It is an understandably significant factor, in common with other remunerated caring roles. Foster carers should always be remunerated fairly for the fostering role they undertake.
• If there are challenges in the relationship between the foster carer and their agency, every effort to resolve differences or disagreements should be made. There will however, be times when there is an understandable reason for foster carers to transfer to another fostering service and there should be careful consideration given to those impacted.
• Whenever carers transfer services there will always be some uncertainty about the levels and kind of support offered by the new fostering service and the effectiveness of establishing new working relationships. This has the potential to unsettle  children in care currently living with that foster carer.
• The danger of financial inducements to encourage carers to transfer is  that this practice is normalised. This effectively nullifies the impact of the recruitment strategy to increase the number of foster carers overall.
•  Where marketing communications focus on financial inducements, all fostering services become tarnished with an identity of being financially led. This is misleading, creates negative perceptions and impacts the whole sector.
• Where marketing communications focus on actively and directly encouraging existing foster carers to transfer to a new service, regardless of financial inducement, the sector loses its strength and reputation as child focused.

Therefore NAFP does not support the use of financial inducements or any proactive, targeted or direct marketing specifically to encourage the recruitment of foster carers to transfer between fostering services.

NAFP will continue to support the transfer protocol for foster carers across the UK and act as a broker to arbitrate where there is no consensus on an issue.