A recent report revealed that the number of foster households in Hampshire has increased by eleven since March 2022.

New data released by Hampshire County Council’s Fostering Service revealed that despite the target was to provide 61 additional fostering households by 2023 in the local authority, 49 new county foster carer households were approved, compared to 33 in the previous year.

As of April 2023, Hampshire had 499 registered foster carers, up from 480 in March 2022, representing an increase from the previous year.

However, 34 county foster carer households were also deregistered during this period due to neighbouring authorities approving fewer foster carers than the previous year.

The “Fostering Annual Report 2022/2023” pointed out that “Through 2022/2023, we continued to see below target information pack requests and firm enquiries with them staying similar to the previous year. However, we maintained a higher-than-target conversion rate from enquiry to approval, indicating that the right people are being targeted through our marketing.”

For 2023/2024, HCC’s priority will be to increase the overall foster care household numbers by providing better support and training to the existing carers and attracting new ones.

In terms of doing that, in 2022/2023, training was offered to foster careers, and the first group of foster carers completed the Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Skills in Foster Care.

The Fostering service conducted a pilot training program called “The Great Behaviour Breakdown”, which received positive feedback.

They also surveyed foster carers, receiving 127 responses. The survey revealed that 84% of respondents felt “satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the support” provided by the service. 56.6% of foster carers felt “satisfied or very satisfied with the social workers of the children placed with them”.

However, 17% of carers felt that “they had a placement where they were not equipped to meet the child’s care needs”.