Children with Complex Needs Entering Care Up by a Third in a Single Year

Children are arriving in the care system with physical disabilities, trauma-related needs, neurodiverse conditions and emotional or behavioural challenges, and there is a growing need for foster carers with the knowledge, skills and mindset to help these children thrive.

While people from all walks of life can foster, children with higher needs often benefit from carers with experience in care-giving or public service roles, such as teaching, nursing, social care or the emergency services.

Currently, 28% of foster carers come from healthcare or public sector roles before fostering - but demand for carers with these skills continues to grow.

Tim Barclay, CEO of National Fostering Group, said:

The children coming into care today have increasingly complex needs, and the system needs carers who are ready to meet them. What this data shows is not just a numbers problem; it is a skills challenge.

People who have spent their careers in nursing, teaching, social work or the emergency services already have so much of what it takes. They understand trauma, they know how to stay calm under pressure, and they have the instinct to put someone else’s needs first. We want them to know that fostering is a way to put those skills to work where they matter most.

NFG is calling on people from these backgrounds to take the next step and discover the difference they could make as a foster carer. As an organisation, they ensure all carers receive comprehensive training, ongoing professional development and 24/7 specialist support. Carers receive a tax-free allowance of up to £24,500 per year, and higher where the children have complex needs, to help cover the time, care and costs involved.

Lynne (64) and her husband Keith (64), from the Midlands, became foster carers with NFG 12 years ago and have cared for 31 children since. One girl who joined their family had been out of school for six years. She is neurodivergent, and Lynne and Keith have spent the years since helping her settle back into education

Lynne said:

When a child walks through your door, to them you're a stranger at first. The challenge is to help that young person know that you're there for them. You have to look at each individual child, work out what makes them happy, and help them blossom.

Regularly doing the training NFG offers and working with a professional team that gives you the confidence to put that training into practice helps keep me in the right mindset. Fostering is a vocation, but it's also a career, and with the right support behind you, you can help a child get to the best place they can be.

Today, the young girl Lynne cares for is back in education and building a future. "She has come such a long way," she says.

To find out more about fostering and how to take the first step, visit the official National Fostering Group website.