F5 FosterCare
There are no unwanted children, just unfound families.

Our fostering service takes its name, F5 Fostercare from two key principles. Firstly, the values and beliefs which the creation of the service was based upon as noted below and secondly on the basis that the F5 key on a computer/laptop is an alternative refresh button. We believe that we have a refreshing take on how to create our fostering community and grow our organisation.

'F5'

Foster Carers– We recruit our committed Foster Carers with a diverse range of skills, knowledge and cultures to offer wider and more closely matching placement opportunities.

Families – Supporting and caring for our foster families, respecting children’s birth families.

Futures – Recognising that providing excellent reflective care everyday supports the child’s journey to a brighter future.

Fairness –Valuing diversity and celebrating what makes each child unique.

Feedback – We actively encourage feedback from children and young people, our Carers and the Placing Local Authorities.

How competitive is the market for foster care?

The competition for foster carers is becoming more intense as Local Authorities increase their recruitment efforts and offer attractive fees and incentives. F5 Foster Care provides a high-quality service that appeals to foster carers looking for a more personalized approach and a “family feel.”

What are some of your strengths as an independent foster care agency?

F5 Fostercare have an exceptionally stable staff team, with good retention levels. Over the course of the last few years, we have gained a better understanding of F5 Foster Care’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and is using the SWOT analysis findings to further shape our action plan. F5 Foster Care staff are committed and ambitious, embracing change, facing challenges with determination and resilience and always aspirational for the children in our care.

Staff professional development expenditure is critical both from an in investment in staff retention and in the development of the service. Upskilling staff will be a priority to increase the quality of service we deliver in managing/supporting the more complex and challenging placements.

In conversation with Safaraz Ali, MD and Co-owner of F5 Fostercare.

What is fostering?

A number of families in our society are unable to look after their children because of personal difficulties and pressures upon them, whilst some others might need someone else to support them in bringing up their children by giving them a temporary break from the daily

How does F5 Fostercare approach recruiting, training, and supporting foster carers?

Too often we fail to appreciate the essential contribution made by the great unsung army of Foster Carers. With the majority of looked after children in England living with Foster Carers their role is invaluable and deserves to be recognised and supported.

As the demands on our care system increase, it is crucial that we not only recruit new and dedicated foster carers, but also support and retain current carers. Unfortunately, many carers express feelings of isolation, lack of support, and even burden. While some local authorities and agencies have implemented positive practices, the overall situation is inconsistent. It is essential for the well-being of both foster carers and the children in their care that we prioritize their needs and ensure they are fully engaged, supported, and consulted in every aspect of their journey.

As an Independent Fostering Agency our team at F5 Foster Care:

recruits, assesses, and approves foster carers,
train them, and help foster carers to support the council’s aims for each child in care through regular supervision, reviews and annual appraisals and providing support groups for carers

Safaraz, are you able to give us an insight on the current Foster Care Market and Commentary around some of the challenges?

All Local Authorities across the West Midlands are required to make significant budgets cuts over the next few years, in line with their Sufficiency Plan. Inevitably, these cuts are impacting on Independent Fostering Agencies service provision in the following ways:

• Early intervention strategies provided by Local Authorities to reduce the look after children (LAC) population

• Referrals for complex placements classified as ‘standard/core’ to reduce fees.

• Pressure for fee reductions

• Pressure to progress placements to permanence more quickly to secure permanency discounts.

• Local Authorities recruitment activity to increase in-house fostering service provision, with some local authorities offering higher fees and allowances and incentives to transfer.

• Local Authorities to support more children to be cared for by connected carers

• Increase the availability of Local Authority foster carers to offer more local based placements.

With these additional pressures on our placements, Supervising Social Workers are having to be more responsive to children needs, often fulfilling tasks that are the remit of the Child’s Social Worker. Ofsted Inspections have also evidenced an expectation that our Supervising Social Workers and service provision must fill the gaps left by underperforming Local Authorities, despite not being funded to fulfil these elements.

Despite the messaging by Local Authorities of strategies aimed at reducing the LAC population, the statistics show that LAC populations across our key authorities continues to increase. The feedback from Commissioners and Independent Fostering Agencies forums consistently indicates the need to grow our carer base within Local Authorities and Local Authority boundaries, and specifically for the following placement types: Complex, Parent & Child, Children with Disabilities and ‘Step Down/Bridge to Foster’. All Local Authorities across the region are increasing their marketing activity to recruit more in-house carers and with many Local Authorities and Independent Fostering Agencies offering attractive fees/allowances and recruitment incentives; it remains a challenge to compete in what is an increasingly competitive sector. Nevertheless, F5 Foster Care provides a high-quality service provision, and whilst it is currently small, it retains a local agency feel which attracts foster carers seeking a more personalised approach and family feel.