Children in Care: How to Fix the Fostering Crisis (Louise Allen)

As the government prepares to introduce a strategy to boost
fostering in England, Amol speaks to foster carer and author
Louise Allen about the crisis in the system and what it will take
to fix it.


At the end of March 2024 there were 83,630 children in care in
England, of whom 56,390 were being fostered, but there is a
shortfall of around 6,000 foster carers nationwide.


In this episode Louise explains why we need to be more honest
about the realities of caring for often vulnerable kids and focus
on retaining foster carers rather than recruiting new ones.


She also explains why there needs to be more practical support
like providing a cleaner for every fostering household so that
they can focus on emotionally supporting the children in their
care.


(00:03:10) Why is there a fostering crisis? (00:06:20) Why do we
have so many children in care? (00:08:49) Louise's story: growing
up in care (00:16:13) The effect of smartphones (00:20:08) Why is
there a shortage of foster carers? (00:23:37) Why do people
foster? (00:27:28) The recruitment process (00:30:33) Foster care
v residential care (00:33:10) What is the fostering allowance?
(00:39:09) Louise's RADICAL ideas (00:45:06) The government's
fostering reforms (00:47:30) The importance of giving children
social capital (00:52:19) Amol's reflections


GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday
and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before
that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The
Independent.


Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis
Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel
Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Dave O'Neill. The
editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.