Down 12% since 2019: England is asking ordinary people to foster
What happened
England has launched its first national campaign to recruit foster carers. The launch was marked by an event at 10 Downing Street on 13 October 2026, and the Department for Education published the details on 14 October. The message is deliberately broad: many different kinds of people can foster. The campaign is aimed particularly at adults in their thirties and forties who have never seriously considered it. The target is 10,000 new foster care places by the end of this Parliament. The reason for the push is a gap that has been widening for years. The number of approved foster carers in England has fallen by 12% since 2019, while the number of children needing care has gone up. Alongside the campaign, the government points to £88 million to reform fostering, and £12.4 million for a Fostering Innovation Fund. That fund is testing eleven programmes, including models that barely existed as options before: short-term respite fostering, weekend fostering, support for carers going through allegations, parent-and-child fostering, therapeutic training, work to recruit a more diverse group of carers, and moving children out of residential care into foster families. Over 70% of local authorities are now part of a Fostering Hub, which is intended to make applying less of a maze. Josh MacAlister OBE MP, the Children's Minister, described the aim as "cracking fostering open to ordinary people across England". The Downing Street event included people with experience of the care system: the former NFL player Efe Odaba, the broadcaster and author Ashley John-Baptiste, and the television personality Lydia Bright.
Why this matters
When there are not enough foster carers, children do not simply wait politely. They get placed further from home, further from their school, and further from their brothers and sisters. Some end up in residential children's homes when a family would have suited them better. That is the practical cost of a 12% fall. Every missing carer is a set of choices that gets narrower for a child who has already had a difficult year. The focus on specific kinds of fostering is the most interesting part of this announcement. Weekend fostering and short-term respite fostering are not the all-or-nothing commitment most people picture. They are ways of supporting an existing foster family so that family does not burn out and give up. That changes who can realistically say yes. If you work full-time, or you have your own young children, "could you take a child for one weekend a month?" is a very different question from "could you take a child indefinitely?" There is also a named, specific effort on diversity. One of the eleven funded programmes is about recruiting a more diverse group of carers. Rachel Cole, Chief Executive of the Black Foster Carers Alliance, explained why her organisation exists: to recruit, support and retain carers for Black children in care. Matching a child with a family who understands their background is not a nicety. And the campaign is targeted at people in their thirties and forties for a reason. That is a group who often assume fostering is for people with grown-up children and a spare bedroom, and who frequently turn out to be eligible.
What the evidence actually says
The strongest number in this announcement is the one about willingness. Department for Education polling found that 66% of people believe they could be good foster carers if practical barriers were removed. Two thirds. Dame Carol Homden, Chief Executive of Coram, made the same point from her organisation's research: there is a substantial pool of people open to fostering. That is a useful finding, but it needs reading carefully. "I believe I could be a good foster carer if the barriers were removed" is a long way from "I have applied". Survey willingness reliably exceeds actual sign-up, in every field. The 10,000 target is ambitious precisely because the gap between those two things is where campaigns usually fail. The 12% fall since 2019 is the harder evidence, and it is the reason the target exists. What the announcement does not include is how the £88 million and £12.4 million break down over time, or any evaluation results from the Fostering Innovation Fund's eleven programmes. Those programmes are described as being tested. That means we do not yet know whether weekend fostering or respite fostering will recruit and retain people at scale - we know they are being tried. This also builds on earlier work rather than starting from nothing: a Fostering Action Plan published in February 2026, and an Enduring Relationships Programme in June 2026. New rules for foster carers and digital tools to speed up recruitment are part of the same package. One honest omission: the press release does not explain how to apply. For that, you need your local authority or GOV.UK's fostering pages.
Practical advice
If this has made you wonder, here is how to find out properly rather than guessing. Start with your local authority or a Fostering Hub. Over 70% of councils are now part of a hub, and the whole point of them is that you make one enquiry rather than ringing round. An initial enquiry is a conversation, not an application. Do not rule yourself out on the usual assumptions. Being single, renting, being in your thirties, working full-time, not having children of your own, being LGBT+ - none of these is automatically a barrier. The campaign exists because so many people assume otherwise. Ask specifically about the flexible options. Weekend fostering, short-term respite and parent-and-child fostering are all being actively developed. If the full-time version is not possible for you, ask about those by name - you will get a clearer answer. You will need a spare bedroom. This is one of the genuine practical requirements in most cases, so it is worth knowing early rather than late. Expect the assessment to take months, and expect it to be thorough. References, checks, training and a home visit are all part of it. That is a feature, not an obstacle - children are being placed with you. If you are a Black carer or want to foster a Black child, the Black Foster Carers Alliance is a named organisation in this work and exists for exactly that support. And if fostering is not for you, there are smaller versions of the same instinct: supporting a foster family you know, mentoring, or volunteering with a local children's charity. The need is for support, not only for bedrooms.
What to know
England launched its first national foster carer recruitment campaign at 10 Downing Street on 13 October 2026, with the details published on 14 October. The target is 10,000 new foster care places by the end of this Parliament. Approved foster carers have fallen 12% since 2019 while the number of children needing care has risen. Government polling found 66% of people think they could be good foster carers if practical barriers were removed. There is £88 million for fostering reform and £12.4 million for a Fostering Innovation Fund testing eleven programmes, including weekend and respite fostering. Over 70% of councils are in a Fostering Hub. The flexible options are the ones worth asking about if full-time fostering is not realistic for you. Start with your local authority or Fostering Hub, and do not assume your age, housing or relationship status rules you out. Sources: GOV.UK / Department for Education, "National call to recruit more foster carers launched at Number 10", 14 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-call-to-recruit-more-foster-carers-launched-at-number-10; GOV.UK, "Becoming a foster parent in England", https://www.gov.uk/becoming-foster-parent; Coram, https://www.coram.org.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from your local authority, a fostering agency, or a qualified social worker, nor advice from a doctor or pharmacist on any health matter.
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