Report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services

The 2023-25 Fostering Recruitment and Retention Strategy sets out the Council’s ambitions for the recruitment and retention of foster carers in Manchester. It identifies our recruitment targets and support offer and how we aim to recruit and retain more foster carers for our children who need foster families.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which set out the Council’s ambitions for the recruitment and retention of foster carers in Manchester. It identified the Council’s recruitment targets and support offer and how it aimed to recruit and retain more foster carers for children who needed foster families.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Being a Fostering Friendly Employer;
• The Our Manchester Offer to foster carers;
• Recruitment data;
• Looked After Children/needs analysis;
• Ambition for 2023 - 25;
• Ongoing work undertaken by the Recruitment and Assessment Team; and
• The development and implementation of the Mockingbird Family Model (MFM).

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the fantastic work that the Council was doing; and to recognise the vital role of foster carers and to express the Committee’s thanks;
• To welcome that the Council now had Fostering Friendly Status;
• Noting a previous campaign to recruit foster carers from the Muslim community, were there any particular communities that were being targeted for foster carer recruitment, such as the Somali community;
• What were the barriers to fostering;
• Noting that the lack of a spare bedroom in their home prevented a lot of people from becoming foster carers; and
• What support was being provided to foster carers due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The Fostering Service Lead reported that there was a need for more Black African and Black Caribbean foster carers and that work was taking place, linking in with AFRUCA, to promote fostering in those communities.   She stated that she would be happy to link in with any Councillors about promoting foster carer recruitment in local communities. In response to a Member’s question, she stated that the Council had made enquiries with other organisations to get them interested in gaining Fostering Friendly Status and that it was hoped to hold a launch to promote this further.

The Assistant Director (Provider Services) stated that it could take an individual up to 5 years from first considering fostering and making enquiries to becoming a foster carer, because of the consideration given to making the decision, rather than because of delays by the Council.  She stated that barriers were often specific to the individual but could include housing, the impact of fostering and increasingly being able to work from home, which could also impact on the availability of a spare bedroom.  She highlighted the role of the Mockingbird Family Model in providing support to foster carers.  She informed Members that a one-off additional payment had been made to foster carers to support them with the increased cost of living and that there was an annual increase in the level of remuneration for foster carers.  In response to a question from the Chair, she stated that every local authority had a different offer and pay structure but Manchester’s was competitive and one of the highest in Greater Manchester.

In response to a question from the Chair about supported lodgings becoming subject to regulation, the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services suggested that the Committee receive a report on the work to prepare for this, to which the Chair agreed.

The Chair suggested that different recruitment methods, such as using empty billboards, be used to recruit foster carers and that there should be increased use of kinship carers.

Decision

To receive a report on supported lodgings becoming subject to regulation and the work taking place to prepare for this.