Report shows fewer foster parents

A protracted application process and increased pressures of modern life are factors in the declining numbers of people willing to act as foster parents, according to new research.

The survey by the Northern Area Health Board identifies the length of time taken for applications on staff shortages and pressurised lifestyles as disincentives for those who might consider fostering.

However, it also finds that a high level of long-term fostering reflects the sharp decline in domestic adoption and the preference of applicants for "security in placement".

Noting that "altruism and personal aspirations" are among the motives cited by respondents, the report suggests fostering could be better promoted "as having something to offer to foster families as well as to children in need".

The findings were drawn from a study of 125 carers approved as foster parents between 1995 and 2000 and published yesterday in a three-part document: Counting on Foster Care.

The study suggests that a typical foster family comprises two adults, married for between 11 and 15 years, with two or three children of school-going age.

Three-quarters of carers are over 40, more than half are fostering on a long-term basis and four in 10 are related to the children being fostered. Sixteen per cent of all foster families are headed by single parents.

The report also indicates that a quarter of families already providing foster care in the eastern region are still awaiting full assessment.

This is blamed on a lack of staff and on the difficulty of assessing "relatives and emergency carers, when children are placed [as a result of] crisis situations.

The chief executive of the Northern Area Health Board, Ms Maureen Windle, welcomed the research as having "exposed some of the myths" about foster-care.

It showed that some families "obviously derive great satisfaction from fostering and it is incumbent on us to understand the critical success factors which makes this so".

She said the board had established a working group to respond to the report's recommendations.

The Minister for State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, welcomed the study, which he said would provide "very positive incentives" for those willing to consider fostering.