Record number of foster parents come forward during lockdown in Swindon
From April to December 2020, 11 new foster carers had already been recruited
People have come forward in record numbers to offer themselves as foster parents in Swindon over the last year.
Angela Clarke, Director of Children's Social Work says it's been "one of the unexpceted benefits of lockdown" as she updated members of Swindon Borough Council's children’s health, care and education overview and scrutiny committee
It comes as the dcouncil was asked to make improvements to the department by Ofsted in 2014.
In 2019 the children’s services received a good rating from Ofsted and Ms Clarke said it continued to get better and one area of improvement was in foster placements
She said:
“One of the unexpected benefits of lockdown is that many more people have come forward interested in being foster parents.
“We have been assessing them and are now moving forward with a number of the new parents.
“It means we can place more Swindon children and young people with foster parents in Swindon, which is a real benefit.”
From April to December 2020, 11 new foster carers had already been recruited, with more expected to be approved by the end of this month.
That compares to the eight new foster carers recruited in Swindon from April 2019 to March 2020.
Mary Martin, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services was very pleased to see the response of sop many people in Swindon.
She said:
“Lockdown has been extremely challenging for a lot of people but especially for children who can’t be cared for by their parents or family.
“The response from our community and the increase in people enquiring about becoming a foster carer has been amazing and we are so grateful for the response from the public during this difficult time. Fostering for your local council means you are part of a service where every penny is spent on providing a good service to children and their foster carers in Swindon.
Councillor Martin said the council would still like to hear from more people who may be interested in fostering. That can be a family, single people, or couples, including same sex couples.
If you’re interested in joining becoming a foster parents you can get in touch via the council's website at www.swindon.gov.uk/fostering.