A DRIVE to increase the number of foster carers in Worcestershire has yielded “spectacular” results.
The number of foster carers in the county has increased by 25 per cent in a year, according to cabinet member for children and families Justin Bowen.
The councillor, who has personal experience of fostering, now wants lessons to be learned from Worcestershire County Council’s success.
Cllr Bowen said Worcestershire had 88 “mainstream fostering households” in May 2025 and now has 110, having had 27 new families approved in the past 12 months and five leave the foster care system.
“That’s a net gain of 22, or 25 per cent,” he said.
“That’s spectacular and sets Worcestershire apart from most other authorities.”
He has asked the council’s children and families overview and scrutiny panel to look at what the council is doing, especially as government foster care reforms could “undermine” fostering work in shire counties such as Worcestershire.
“We’ve done three big things,” said Cllr Bowen.
“The first was to give foster carers a big pay increase and narrow the gap between the council and independent agencies – to reward foster carers how they should be rewarded.”
The council announced pay rises of up to seven per cent in November.
“Secondly, I’ve totally restructured the system, so now there’s a dedicated team making sure foster carers are getting the support and training they need.
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“I held a conference call recently with a foster carers group and they said it’d had a huge impact – they can pick up the phone and feel confident they will get the support they need.
“The third thing is how we promote fostering – it’s now a more targeted, more professional promotion of the Worcestershire Fostering brand.”
He said the messaging is about encouraging people from a range of backgrounds to register with the fostering service.
“You bring all these together and they contribute to this huge increase,” said Cllr Bowen.
