Fostering
The Future of Fostering: Kinship Strategy, Staying Put and Stability Measures
Why stability is the North Star
Children thrive when relationships are predictable and durable. For fostering, that means fewer placement moves, stronger carer support, and clear routes to adulthood. England’s reform agenda is pivoting hard toward stability-first practice—backing kinship care, strengthening “Staying Put,” expanding peer-support models like Mockingbird, and funding regional recruitment hubs so the right carer is found first time. The prize is big: better outcomes for children and a system that spends less on crisis placements and more on families.
The Kinship Strategy: shifting care to family networks
In December 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) published Championing Kinship Care: The National Kinship Care Strategy, the first of its kind. The core idea is simple: when a child can’t live with their parents, they should—where safe and suitable—grow up with people they already know and love. That reduces trauma, keeps identity intact and often avoids later breakdowns. The strategy sets out commitments around financial support pilots, training, and better recognition for kinship carers.
What’s new in 2025 for kinship
Two practical developments matter on the ground. First, Virtual School Heads (VSHs)—who champion the education of children in care—now have their remit extended to include children in kinship care, backed by a new £3.8m investment. That should translate into more joined-up school support and better attainment tracking for kinship children. Second, the strategy continues to push for improved entitlements and clearer local offers for kinship families.
What it means for carers and social workers
For carers, you’ll see more consistent training pathways, access to peer groups, and clearer information on allowances and legal routes (for example, Special Guardianship Orders). For social workers, the ask is earlier family finding, stronger kinship assessments and better wrap-around support (education, health, housing) to prevent placement drift. Over time, this should reduce demand for high-cost residential placements and help local authorities stabilise budgets without sacrificing quality.
“Staying Put”: turning foster families into launchpads for adulthood
Staying Put lets young people remain with their former foster carers after 18—maintaining the relationships that matter most while they finish college, start work or simply grow into independence. The statutory guidance dates from 2013 but remains foundational, and practice notes since then have clarified how councils should plan, fund and review arrangements, including joint housing protocols to keep accommodation stable.
The funding and practice essentials
Effective Staying Put depends on three things:
- Realistic financial packages so carers aren’t penalised when a young person turns 18;
- Clear expectations (house rules, contributions, support hours) agreed before 18; and
- Housing pathways that do not force chaotic last-minute moves. Good protocols set out eligibility, payment mechanisms, and how to escalate issues before they become breakdowns.
Staying Close (and how it differs)
You’ll also hear about Staying Close, a sister policy designed for young people leaving children’s homes, not foster care. It offers enhanced practical and emotional support from a “base” near the former home—things like key-worker access and help with training, study and tenancy skills. While different in audience, the logic is the same: reduce loneliness and risk by keeping trusted adults close during the first years of independence.
Stability measures that are changing the picture
Several national programmes are aimed squarely at stability and retention—the two levers that make or break outcomes.
Recruitment Support Hubs (“Foster with Us”)
DfE has funded regional fostering recruitment and retention hubs so councils can pool marketing, triage enquiries quickly and move suitable applicants into assessment faster. The aim is to increase approvals and reduce the costly reliance on spot purchasing. Grant letters and local announcements across 2024/25 show hubs scaling in multiple regions, with councils reporting faster pipeline growth.
Mockingbird constellations: peer support that works
The Mockingbird Family Model clusters 6–10 fostering households around a trained “hub home” that provides coaching, community events and emergency or planned sleepovers. Evaluations link the model to better placement stability and carer retention. By February 2025 there were over 220 constellations active across Great Britain, with public milestones indicating around 250 by June 2025—evidence of real momentum.
Data, allowances and market signals
- Allowances: The national minimum fostering allowance for 6 April 2025–5 April 2026 ranges roughly £170–£299/week, varying by region and age, and is updated annually in April. Agencies and some councils top up beyond the minimum.
- Supply and demand: Ofsted data show approvals have trailed exits for several years, contributing to pressure on placement sufficiency—one reason hubs and retention schemes matter.
- Cost pressures elsewhere: Recent reporting highlights spiralling residential costs and concerns about market concentration and profiteering—context that makes family-based care and stability measures even more critical.
The near future: what changes you’ll feel locally
For prospective carers in places like Kent or Hounslow, expect quicker, more consistent first responses from recruitment hubs, more access to Mockingbird peer support once approved, and clearer guidance on Staying Put options as a young person approaches 18. Local pages will increasingly signpost kinship routes earlier in social-work assessments, so families can step forward before a child leaves their community.
Practice playbook: keeping placements steady day-to-day
1) Front-load matching. Hubs and better data should cut rushed matches. Carers should always see clear risk and needs summaries (education, health, contact).
2) Build a crisis plan on day one. Include de-escalation steps, who to call after hours, and a plan for emergency sleepovers (Mockingbird makes this easy).
3) Record for stability, not just for court. Daily logs that capture triggers, regulation strategies and school patterns help the whole team intervene earlier.
4) Align education and health support. With VSH remit extending to kinship cohorts, push for consistent PEP/plan quality for every child, not just those under full care orders.
5) Make “Staying Put” a 16+ conversation. Talk money, expectations and next steps long before birthdays; use joint housing protocols to avoid cliff edges.
Money matters: paying fairly, planning sensibly
Minimum allowances are a floor, not a ceiling. Councils and IFAs often add skill-based fees, bonuses or retainer payments, especially for complex or out-of-hours work. As recruitment tightens, some areas introduce welcome bonuses or uprated bands to stay competitive; others embed Mockingbird and offer better respite instead of chasing headline rates. For transparency and retention, local offers should publish separate allowance vs. fee figures, spell out what’s claimable (mileage, birthdays, holidays) and provide a one-page summary carers can actually use.
Kinship, Staying Put and Mockingbird—how they fit together
Think of the future system as a triangle of stability:
- Kinship first: Where safe, children remain with family or friends, helped by clearer entitlements and VSH oversight on education.
- Fostering that lasts: Carers are recruited in clusters, mentored by hub homes, and supported to keep placements steady through ordinary wobble points.
- Soft landings to adulthood: Staying Put is planned early with sensible finance and housing, so turning 18 doesn’t trigger a move. Staying Close mirrors that support for young people leaving children’s homes.
When these three are aligned, we see fewer expensive emergency moves, less school disruption and better mental-health stability—outcomes every inspection and strategy prioritises.
What agencies and councils should do next
Audit your pipeline. Use hub analytics to find leak-points between enquiry, pre-assessment and panel.
Embed Mockingbird where demand is highest. Prioritise teams handling teens, siblings and parent-and-child placements.
Publish a plain-English local offer. Include allowances, fee bands, respite, training hours and out-of-hours support so carers can compare services without guesswork.
Hard-wire post-18 planning. Add a Staying Put readiness review to every 16+ pathway plan with a financial summary and housing back-up.
Join the kinship wave. Map your kinship caseload, training gaps and education support—then use the VSH extension to fix the bottlenecks.
For prospective carers: where to start
If you’re thinking about fostering, here’s the smartest sequence:
1) Explore local vs IFA options and ask directly about Mockingbird access and respite.
**2) Check the 2025/26 minimum allowance for your region and age bands, then ask for the fee structure on top.
**3) Ask about training (Skills to Foster, therapeutic approaches) and out-of-hours support.
**4) Discuss Staying Put early—what would that look like in your household if a teenager arrives today and turns 18 in two years?
The bottom line
The future of fostering is being rebuilt around relationships that last. The kinship strategy is moving more children into family networks and boosting education support; Staying Put is normalising continuity beyond 18; and stability measures—from recruitment hubs to Mockingbird constellations—are giving carers the community and backup they’ve long asked for. Pair that with transparent local offers and realistic finance, and you get the kind of system where children don’t just stay placed—they belong.