Which types of foster placements are most needed locally?

The placements most needed in a local area are identified by children’s services according to the children currently waiting for a suitable home. Demand is not fixed: it can change as children enter care, placements end, and local authorities receive referrals. A household may therefore be considered for several placement types, depending on its space, skills, availability and ability to meet a child’s needs.

Demand is about suitability, not simply numbers. A local authority may have several approved foster homes but still need a particular profile of carer. For example, it may need a household able to accept a child at short notice, keep brothers and sisters together, support regular family contact, or manage behaviour linked to trauma. The most valuable placement is the one that safely matches a child’s circumstances with a carer’s capacity.

Other placement categories may also be requested locally:

• Long-term or permanent fostering: some children cannot return to their birth family but need a stable foster home throughout their childhood. These placements require carers who can provide consistent care while supporting the child’s identity, relationships and long-term plans.
• Parent-and-child placements: a young parent and their baby may live with specially trained foster carers while the parent develops their parenting skills. Carers need to observe care, provide guidance and contribute to professional assessments without taking over the parent’s role.
• Therapeutic or specialist placements: children with significant emotional, behavioural, developmental or health-related needs may require a carefully planned home and a higher level of support. Relevant experience can be helpful, but training and the assessment process establish whether a household can manage the role safely.
• Placements for young people involved with the criminal justice system: some teenagers need foster care alongside clear boundaries, supervision and cooperation with social workers and other professionals. These placements are considered on an individual basis.
• Placements for children arriving in the UK without their usual carers: where local authorities have responsibility for children who have arrived without a parent or guardian, they may seek carers able to support language, culture, education and safeguarding needs.

These categories should not be treated as a checklist of vacancies. Whether a particular type is needed depends on the referrals received by the relevant local authority and the number of approved households with the right experience and available space.

What influences local demand? Several factors affect which placements are difficult to source:

• the ages and needs of children entering care;
• whether children need to remain near their school, family or community;
• the number of brothers and sisters who need to live together;
• the level of supervision, transport and professional involvement required;
• the availability of foster homes able to manage particular risks or behaviours; and
• whether a placement is expected to last for days, months or several years.

Location can be important even when a household is willing to travel. Keeping a child near education, family contact and existing services may reduce disruption, so a local need can relate to where a carer lives as well as the type of care they can provide.

How your likely placement role is decided

During an initial conversation and fostering assessment, you can discuss the age range, placement duration and needs you may be able to manage. The assessment considers practical matters such as bedroom space, household routines, employment, transport, other children or adults in the home, support networks and any relevant experience. It also considers your understanding of safeguarding, confidentiality, relationships with birth families and the impact fostering may have on everyone in the household.

Training helps you understand the needs of children in care and prepare for the responsibilities involved. You do not need to have experience of every type of placement before applying, but you must be open about your strengths, limits and circumstances. Being clear about what you can and cannot safely offer helps the fostering team consider suitable referrals.

Once approved, placement decisions are made by comparing a child’s needs with your approval category, skills, household arrangements and current capacity. You can ask questions about the child’s background, routines, risks, education, contact arrangements and the support plan before deciding whether a proposed placement is appropriate. A placement should not be accepted solely because a particular type is in demand.

Finding out what is needed now

The most reliable way to understand current demand is to speak with the fostering team or the relevant local authority, because priorities can change between areas and over time. Ask which age groups and placement profiles are currently difficult to match, what training is required, whether there are expectations around transport or family contact, and what support is available for the types of placement being discussed.

Demand may help inform your decision to foster, but it does not determine whether you will be approved or guarantee that a placement will be offered. The central consideration is always whether the proposed home can provide safe, consistent and appropriate care for that particular child.