High rate of relative carers not approved

ONLY half of foster careers who look after a relative have been properly assessed or approved, a new audit has shown.

Some 44% of relative foster carers nationwide are unapproved, according to the audit, details of which are contained in a report being published today by the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI).

The scale of the problem differs from region to region. In the Northern Area Health Board, there are 204 relative foster carers with whom children have been placed. But 171 of these, or 84%, have yet to be approved.