Three-quarters of carers ‘would not recommend fostering’

Three-quarters of foster carers surveyed said they would not recommend fostering to others, due to the lack of financial support from the State.

Tusla, the child and family agency, has been struggling with a shortage of carers, which has been contributing to a placements crisis. This has left some children in State care in inappropriate accommodation, such as hotels and bed and breakfasts.

A survey of 460 carers found the majority described the financial difficulties associated with fostering as “very challenging”.

[ Insufficient number of potential carers a ‘wake-up call’ for the future of fostering ]

[ Foster carers ‘quitting’ over lack of State support, Oireachtas committee told ]

About half of the carers surveyed said they had considered giving up fostering due to the financial pressures, with three-quarters saying they were unsatisfied with State support provided to them. Some 40 per cent of carers surveyed said they frequently were under financial strain, while 47 per cent said they sometimes faced financial strain as carers.

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The survey was undertaken by the Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA), which represents about 1,400 foster carers.

Some 76 per cent of respondents said they would not recommend fostering to others, due to the lack of financial support from the State, while 80 per cent said they would have thought twice about fostering if they had known of the financial strain they would be put under.

The foster carer allowance of between €325 and €352 a week has not been increased since 2009. However, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman has committed to seeking an increase in the coming budget.

Nine out of 10 of the 5,600 children in State care are in foster care, with about 3,500 foster carers registered with Tusla.

IFCA chief executive Róisín Clarke said carers had been “unjustly overlooked” by successive governments.

“The undeniable consequence of years of neglect and underfunding is the alarming scarcity of foster-care placements for our children,” she said.

[ Foster carers not always told of child’s history, conference hears ]

Ms Clarke said the number of carers had fallen by 14 per cent since 2017, as a result of “ongoing poor policy decisions, recruitment challenges, and chronic underfunding”.

Green Party TD Patrick Costello, a former social worker, said the survey results were of “real concern” for the fostering system.

“The best recruiter of a new foster carer is an existing foster carer. If they can’t recommend it that is trouble in terms of recruiting,” he said.

Mr Costello said an increasing reliance on private foster care companies was “not the answer” and a “drain” on Tusla’s resources.