Fostering services in Cumbria have been given a £1.2 million boost.
Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council are among five local authorities to receive the funding to help foster carer recruitment in the region.
Cumberland Council, Westmorland and Furness Council, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council have been successful in a regional bid to become a pathfinder for the Regional Fostering Recruitment and Retention Hub.
It will help others learn how to successfully implement regional approaches to foster carer recruitment nationally.
Funded by the Department for Education, the hub will act as a first point of contact for those interested in fostering. Over the next two years, the Government has pledged to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it.
The hub’s aim will be to build upon regional relationships to achieve a shared vision for foster care. Launching by April 2024, it will also help carers make an informed choice about how fostering could work for them and to guide them through the approval process.
There will be 10 similar clusters running this programme across the country, comprised of 98 local authorities. Over the course of the programme there will be lots of opportunities to share experience, evidence and learning and the regional hubs will be instrumental in shaping the future of foster care recruitment and retention.
