Surrey County Council: Younger and more diverse foster carers needed

Surrey County Council says it needs foster carers for another 130 children

Surrey County Council (SCC) has begun looking for foster carers who are younger and from more ethnically diverse backgrounds.

A report to be presented to councillors on 15 February highlights how the county is being hit by a national shortage of carers.

The report said the authority needs to find foster carers for an extra 130 children.

It also needs carers for siblings, teenagers and vulnerable children.

By recruiting more carers, SCC hopes to keep children closer to their family home.

Currently 38% of the children in foster care with Surrey County Council have been placed outside the county, while 5% are in Surrey but over 20 miles from their family home.

The average age of foster carers is nearly 54 and many will reach retirement age within 10 to 15 years, the report said.

As a result, SCC is targeting potential fosterers in the 21 to 45 age group.

The authority also said it needs more fosterers from diverse racial backgrounds.

The council said it would be focusing some of its recruitment on the Epsom and Ewell area, where census data shows the highest proportion of Surrey residents identify as black.

Woking, which has the highest proportion of people identifying as Asian, is also a target area.

The Fostering Network estimates there is a shortage of 7,200 fostering households nationally, which is particularly acute for teenagers, sibling groups and children with disabilities and complex needs.

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