The Future of Fostering: Kinship Strategy, Staying Put and Stability Measures

The UK’s fostering landscape is in the middle of a major reset. On one side, there’s a pressing shortage of carers and increasing placement demand; on the other, a slate of reforms designed to keep children closer to family, extend support into adulthood, and stabilise placements. This article unpacks where policy is heading, what it means for carers and agencies, and the practical steps that can improve stability for children today.

Why reform is happening now

Over the past few years, data and frontline experience have pointed in the same direction: too few foster carers, too many placement moves, and too much variation in support. Ofsted’s latest figures show the number of approved foster carers in England fell again in 2023/24, with a 4% year-on-year drop and a 15% decline in local authority carers since 2020. The churn is stark: approvals aren’t keeping pace with resignations.

This supply gap is one driver behind the government’s Stable Homes, Built on Love programme—an attempt to re-shape children’s social care around love, stability and permanence, backed by targeted investment and testing of “what works.”

The Kinship Strategy: resetting the starting point

What the strategy aims to fix

England’s first national Kinship Care Strategy marks a significant culture shift: when it’s safe, children should be supported to live with wider family or friends rather than entering “stranger” foster care. The strategy promises better information and training for kinship carers, stronger employer support, and—crucially—pilot financial allowances equivalent to the fostering national minimum allowance (NMA) in selected areas.

How the allowance pilots work

The pilots (up to eight to ten local authorities) test paying kinship carers at or near foster carer minimum rates, closing a long-criticised gap that pushed some families to refuse kinship roles on affordability grounds. For families who often step in at short notice, equivalent allowances could be the difference between children staying within their network or entering care. Early sector briefings indicate the pilots benchmark payments against the NMA while evaluating impact on stability, recruitment and cost.

Likely future direction

If pilots show improved placement stability and reduced entry to care, expect a wider national rollout of kinship allowances and an expansion of Virtual School responsibilities to support children living in kinship arrangements—both flagged in the original strategy announcement. That would anchor kinship as the default in suitable cases, with foster care increasingly focused on children who genuinely need specialist or therapeutic placements.

“Staying Put” and “Staying Close”: extending stability beyond 18

Staying Put for fostered young people

“Staying Put” allows a young person to remain with their foster carers after turning 18, continuing the supportive relationships that underpin education, work and wellbeing. It formalises what many carers want to do anyway—and what young people ask for—by setting expectations around roles, payments and support. Guidance establishes the framework; practice has matured over the last decade with agencies and councils refining payment policies and support models.

What it means in practice: planning begins well before 18; support shifts from a “placement” to a semi-independent arrangement; and carers typically receive a tailored Staying Put payment to reflect ongoing support. The best schemes align with local housing, further education, and employability pathways so young people don’t face a “cliff edge” on their 18th birthday.

Staying Close for young people leaving children’s homes

For those leaving residential care, “Staying Close” replicates the idea of continuity: a named key adult, practical help, emotional support and a pathway to independence, often from staff linked to their former home. Government has expanded funding rounds to help local authorities implement and evaluate Staying Close, with the evidence base growing through a national feasibility study and evaluation programmes.

The future state: a more consistent national offer where no young person “ages out” alone—they either Stay Put with carers or Stay Close to trusted adults from their home, with local budgets configured to sustain these arrangements beyond 18.

Stability measures that actually work

Mockingbird constellations and peer support

Peer support isn’t a nice-to-have; it keeps placements stable. The Mockingbird model, built around a “hub home” supporting a constellation of foster families, has shown positive effects on retention and stability, and continues to expand across the UK. Expect growth here, given recruitment/retention priorities and how carers rank peer support as a key reason to stay. (Recent national coverage also notes the programme’s role amid the carer shortage.)

Recruitment support hubs: a single front door

A practical barrier for prospective carers is a confusing marketplace. Regional recruitment hubs (“Foster with Us” style) offer a single front door to route enquiries to local councils or partner agencies. These hubs are scaling across regions to simplify the journey from initial interest to approval. Early examples—like the Cumbria & Lancashire hub—aim to speed up matching between prospective carers and services.

Evidence-led commissioning and transparency

Debate around the role and cost of Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs) has sharpened, with concerns about market concentration and profit extraction. While there are high-quality IFAs, the policy trajectory points to tighter transparency, stronger sufficiency planning, and value-for-money scrutiny—all in the name of stability and sustainability.

What this means for foster carers

A bigger emphasis on family and permanence

Carers should expect more kinship placements at the front door and therefore a higher proportion of fostering placements that are complex, therapeutic or time-sensitive. Training will keep moving toward trauma-informed practice (PACE, regulation, de-escalation) and multi-agency collaboration to maintain stability, particularly for teenagers and children with SEN.

More structured support—if we get delivery right

If Staying Put and Staying Close are fully embedded, carers can plan with confidence for young people over 18. The right outcome is clear payments, dedicated social work support, and pathways to education/work—all factors associated with smoother transitions.

Recruitment, retention and respect

Sector commentary continues to highlight pay, support and professional status as retention levers. With Ofsted counting fewer carers and charities warning of a “crisis,” the reforms’ success depends on tangible improvements in day-to-day support: respite, out-of-hours, swift access to mental health help, and administrative burden reduction.

What this means for agencies and local authorities

Build an integrated local offer

The future is an integrated permanence pathway:

• Kinship first where safe, backed by allowance parity and school support.
• Fostering where needed, with therapeutic capacity and Mockingbird-style support networks.
• Staying Put/Staying Close as the standard escalation to adulthood, linked to housing, FE/HE and employment services.

Commission for stability, not just spot placements

Sufficiency strategies should reward stability outcomes (fewer moves, improved attendance, better YP satisfaction) and set clear expectations on training, supervision and escalation. Use underlying DfE/Ofsted datasets to target recruitment—e.g., where approvals are falling fastest or where teenage placements are most scarce.

Make the single front door work

Regional hubs should run continuous campaigns addressing misconceptions (age limits, spare room rules, renting vs. owning) and smooth handoff into local processes, with measurable timelines from enquiry to panel. This is where many prospective carers drop out.

Practical steps that improve stability today

1) Plan early for permanence and post-18

From day one, set expectations with the young person and carers about permanence goals and the feasibility of Staying Put or Staying Close, including housing, finances and education milestones.

2) Double down on education support

Engage the Virtual School early, tighten PEP targets, and make full use of Pupil Premium Plus for tutoring, attendance and inclusion—especially for kinship placements as responsibilities expand.

3) Scale peer support and respite

Build or join a Mockingbird constellation or similar peer model; ring-fence planned respite to prevent burnout and avoid emergency breakdowns.

4) Strengthen trauma-informed practice

Invest in refresher training on PACE, de-escalation and risk planning for county lines/missing, with clear out-of-hours escalation. Stability is as much about what happens at 10pm on a Thursday as on care-planning day.

5) Standardise recording for court-ready evidence

Support carers to keep clear, factual logs—especially for contact and incidents—so decisions aren’t derailed at panel or court due to weak evidence.

What success looks like in five years

• Fewer entries into care through credible, well-funded kinship options; parity of allowance where appropriate.
• A larger pool of specialist foster carers, supported by peer networks and fair, transparent payments—slowing the decline in approvals and improving retention.
• Young adults don’t “fall off a cliff” at 18, because Staying Put and Staying Close are standard, not exceptions, with aligned housing and education.
• Data-led commissioning that balances council and IFA provision, prioritising stability and value for money amid ongoing scrutiny of costs and market structure.

Final word

The reforms won’t fix everything overnight—but together, Kinship Strategy + Staying Put/Staying Close + stability-first commissioning form a coherent route to fewer moves, stronger relationships, and better long-term outcomes. The challenge now is delivery: turning national intent into local, everyday practice that families and carers can feel.