Foster Families

In coverage aired on 14 October, Channel 4 and 5 reported on efforts to recruit more foster carers in England. Channel 4 described a government campaign asking people in their thirties and forties to consider fostering, with the aim of increasing foster places in England by 10,000. Channel 4 also carried a government message that prospective carers do not need to have a perfect life and that fostering is being changed to help younger couples, single people and multi-generational families come forward. 5 reported a new national recruitment campaign encouraging more people to consider fostering.

Key Claims by Channel

Claim
Reported by all 2 channels
A government campaign aims to increase foster places in England by 10,000.
Approximately 56,000 children are in foster care at any given time.
The number of available foster places fell by 12% in the previous year.
Around one in three foster carers are now aged 60 or over, up from one in four five years ago.	Reported by Channel 5
Only on one channel
The government said it is changing fostering so younger couples, single people and multi-generational families can come forward, and that prospective carers do not need a perfect life.	Not reported by Channel 5	Reported by Channel 4
Jacqueline Wilson is an author and an ambassador for the East Sussex foster care association who has written about children in care, including the book Esme Pepper.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Foster carer Claire Hawkins from Newport in South Wales said her child's complex learning needs initially deterred her, but an assessor told her it would not be a barrier.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Claire Hawkins said the fostering system is struggling because more children need care and fewer families are signing up.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Claire Hawkins and Jacqueline Wilson said potential foster carers may worry they are not the right type or age, or that their housing, relationship status or neurodivergent children would make fostering inappropriate.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Jacqueline Wilson said residential homes try their best but may not provide the same as a loving family.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Jacqueline Wilson said options such as weekend fostering or respite care could help.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4
Jacqueline Wilson gave an example of a young person in respite care who took up karate, became a champion and improved their anger issues.	Reported by Channel 5	Not reported by Channel 4

This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.