Foster Network urgently seeks families

Northern Ireland urgently needs another 350 foster families, it was revealed today.

The Fostering Network NI is beginning a two week campaign to try to attract more people to begin fostering children.

It said there was considerable ignorance about fostering in the North. One in four people wrongly believed they had to be married to foster and half of 25-34 year-olds mistakenly thought foster carers didn’t get paid for what they do.

A study by the Fostering Network also showed that children were being moved a long way from their families and friends because of the shortage of carers.