FosterWiki

Discover FosterWiki – The bold new 3rd way transforming foster carer support. Just last week, our direct intervention helped save three placements, and supported two carers to stay when they were ready to walk away. ▪️FosterWikiLine – An unparalleled helpline offering bespoke, expert support from qualified experts who truly understand the unique challenges of foster care. No scripts, no call centres, just real help, tailored to each individual situation. ▪️Professional support during allegations: Full guidance, comprehensive information, emotional and peer support, and our exclusive certified course “Allegations: The Foster Carer’s Perspective" (FREE to members) ▪️FREE Certified Training & Accreditation: We work in partnership with NFCQ National Foster Carers Qualifications to deliver your members superb quality certifed courses FREE OF CHARGE (no other support organisaion does that) that add up to ITOL/NFCQ Accreditation. It’s new. It’s bold. It’s working. Imagine the impact on recruitment, retention, placement stability and outcomes for children when your carers feel genuinely supported, valued, and professionally developed. All this for just £2.99 a month per family, or £35 per year. You buy the codes, they sign up. Discounts available for bulk memberships. Let’s reimagine fostering together, planting seeds for the future of the children we care for. 🤚Meets NMS 22.10 Please contact us for a chat: info@fosterwiki.com

A step in the right direction, but are we ready to act on what really matters? It’s telling that a single placement referral for a child with complex needs can be rejected by hundreds of providers, many worried that accepting such placements could jeopardise their Ofsted rating. In response, Ofsted has updated the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF), shifting focus toward how providers promote and sustain stability, particularly for children with high and complex needs. This follows research revealing that 91% of local authorities are struggling to find suitable placements for these children, with ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ homes especially hesitant. While this change in inspection focus is welcome, it doesn’t yet tackle the root of the issue. At a guess I would say the majority of these are teenagers, often those who have experienced multiple placement breakdowns or who were in stable long term fostering arrangements that broke down during adolescence. I fostered teens for 16yrs and I can honestly say one of the most important things is 'reading between the lines' of the referral and seeing it through a trauma informed lens. In 16yrs we only said 'no' once. There are effective solutions. It begins with high-quality, national training that equips foster carers and professionals to understand and support these young people. It continues with wraparound support that should already be in place, but too often isn’t. And critically, it must be underpinned by real rights and protections for foster carers so they can confidently and fearlessly provide care. The path to better outcomes starts not with ratings, but with the courage to create the conditions that enable stability, resilience, and trust. #fostercare #frontline #wecare 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eZXufkZe

Seems this is a common issue across the frontline of fostering.... #fostering #frontline

We’ve been receiving a growing number of enquiries from fostering providers who are keen to understand what it takes to become a FosterWiki Approved Fostering Service. This list is highly selective, and intentionally so. It recognises organisations that are genuinely committed to delivering exceptional outcomes for children, while also ensuring that foster carers are fully respected, informed, and supported as equal professionals within the team around the child. Some of the key criteria include: ✅ Personal testimonials from a broad and diverse range of foster carers  ✅ A modern, strengths-based assessment process completed within 8-10 weeks*  ✅ Fully accredited National Foster Carer Qualifications completed before carers begin  ✅ Relational and trauma-informed education embedded from day one  ✅ Clear, balanced information about foster carer support organisations, empowering carers to make informed choices  ✅ Professional, honest marketing and online presence, free from sugar-coated promises or romanticised narratives We believe educating carers shouldn't be optional. Stable, loving placements are rooted in equipping foster carers from the outset. This isn’t simply “parenting” it’s specialist care for some of the UK’s most vulnerable and traumatised children. And while love is essential, it isn’t enough on its own. If your service shares these values and you believe you meet the standards we champion, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch, I’d be happy to start a conversation. * Can depend on external factors and issues beyond the control of the assessment team. #fostercare #wecare Siobhan Hamilton

Niki Kalisperas, FosterWiki Campaign Manager —“Imagine being a child in care and being robbed of these most fundamental connections, the connections that underpin our entire self.” A social worker—“A child who has already experienced trauma and loss is re-traumatised totally unnecessarily by these short transitions in order to fill timescales and to fit in with existing caseloads. These children need their worker to be trauma-informed… yet there is but a cursory nod to this well-recognised way of working.” This is more than a quote—it’s a call to action. We must do better. Children in care are not timescales or caseloads. They are children with histories, hopes, and hearts that break far too often. Preventing broken attachments isn’t just best practice—it’s essential. FosterWiki’s Noah’s Campaign is about protecting those vital connections. Because when we break attachments, we break trust. And when we protect them, we hold their future in our hands. You can watch FosterWiki’s film here ‘Because we hold their future in our hands’ https://lnkd.in/eP67V52z Join us. Speak up. Share. #NoahsCampaign #FosterWiki #FosterCare #TraumaInformedCare #ItTakesAVillage #ChildProtection #AttachmentMatters #EveryChildMatters

The government’s decision to cut the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund by 40% per child is short-sighted, damaging, and frankly an insult to adoptive families and special guardians. While the overall budget remains at £50 million, the reality is that these changes mean less therapeutic support for children who have experienced profound trauma, abuse, and loss. Reducing the Fair Access Limit from £5,000 to £3,000 and removing separate funding for specialist assessments will make it harder for families to access the tailored, high-quality help they desperately need. Ending transitional funding adds another layer of disruption and delay. This is not a technical funding tweak—it’s a clear failure to protect some of the country’s most vulnerable children. These are children whose early experiences have left deep psychological scars, and whose adoptive families are already doing the impossible, every single day, to give them safety, love, and stability. The government talks about the importance of permanence, stability and family-based care—but actions like this speak louder than words. Cuts of this kind will deter future adopters and special guardians and increase long-term pressure on children’s services, education, and mental health systems. I support Sarah Johal’s call for secure, long-term funding. Our children and families deserve more than last-minute announcements and shrinking support. We should be investing more, not less.

Planning holidays and trips as a foster carer takes thoughtful preparation and awareness of the unique needs of foster children. 👉The FosterWiki guide, ‘A Foster Carer’s Guide to Holidays and Trips,’ offers valuable insights and practical advice to ensure these experiences are positive for everyone involved. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eFreYw4e #fostercare #holidays #planning #fosterWiki

Thinking about fostering? Already on the path? New carer? Just curious? At FosterWiki, we tell it like it is, no sugar coating, no glossy marketing. Why? Because the more you really know, the more successful, protected and confident you’ll be on your fostering journey. Fostering isn’t just a vocation, job or role, it’s life changing. It’s rewarding, tough, beautiful, and brave. It’s not for everyone, but for the right people, it’s everything. We’re here to guide you with real insight from real foster carers, whether you’re just starting out, in assessment, or looking for the right agency. Join FosterWiki. You don’t need to be a foster carer to access our support line, advice, or recommendations, we’re here for you at every stage, for just £2.99 a month: https://lnkd.in/e-5TAYZy #fostercare #frontline #reality

The persistent 'them vs. us' culture between foster carers and social workers remains one of the most damaging dynamics in foster care. It’s a legacy mindset, deep rooted and hard to shift, that continues to undermine progress. True, lasting change requires a cultural reset: one where social work and foster care stand side by side, as equal partners in the care and protection of vulnerable children. Too often, there’s an unspoken hierarchy, foster carers seen as less knowledgeable or less capable, despite the depth of insight and experience they bring. This outdated narrative has led to foster carers being viewed as little more than babysitters, while those 'shaping' policy have often never fostered themselves. At FosterWiki, we’re working hard to challenge and change that narrative. Our core team, which regularly meets with the Department for Education, is composed entirely of foster carers, yet includes a consultant paediatrician, a psychotherapist specialising in child trauma, an experienced construction professional, a former senior civil servant, a best-selling author on children in care, a senior NHS child protection lead, a charity CEO, an ex-naval officer and IT systems architect. All foster carers. All professionals. All too familiar with being dismissed as 'just foster carers', and, more worryingly, often having to remain silent when treated that way, for fear of repercussions or risking their children's stability and registration. This is not about blame, this is about moving forward. We believe the future of foster care lies in collaboration, mutual respect, and recognising the unique, complementary strengths each party brings. FosterWiki is here to amplify that message, because when we elevate foster carers, we elevate outcomes for children. #fostercare #frontline #mutualrespect

This morning, our team had an insightful discussion about the language of care and the important changes that still need to be made. One point that stood out was the common belief that children in care should be treated 'the same’ and given a 'normal life' so they don’t feel different. But how realistic is that, given the systems we have in place? For example, how 'normal' is it for a child to sit in a room full of adults with lanyards around their necks, discussing them, not with them, but about them, while they’re right there? How normal is it for them to be regularly pulled from class to meet with social workers or attend PEP meetings, all while trying to blend in with their peers. If we truly want to help children in care feel less different, we have a long way to go in rethinking the systems and practices that reinforce this divide. The question is: Why aren’t we doing better? Love to know your views. #FosterCare #FrontLine