'Foster care families must be supported — or the system will collapse' 

Former foster carer and member of Movement 4 Change in Foster Care Janice Culley: 'I want to see the system made easier and more attractive for new people to come in to replace people who are leaving.' Picture: Patrick Browne

The number of foster carers in the country is continuing to fall due to a lack of support and financial assistance, a leading academic has said, at the same time the care system is experiencing record demand for placements.

Figures released to the Irish Examiner show the number of foster carers fell from 4,384 in 2017 to 3,941 in January this year, despite a rise in the number of children needing foster care.

Figures from the CSO show in January 2023, there were more than 5,000 children in the care of the State.

The drop in the number of foster carers has resulted in children being placed in residential centres, which is hugely more expensive for the State.

Figures show one residential placement costs the State €306,624 per year — while a foster care placement with a family costs €16,896 per year.

Dr Danielle Douglas, lecturer in social care at South East Technological University Waterford and foster care researcher, said she could not understand why the State was not investing in the care system.

She told the Irish Examiner: “My PhD study looked at the impact of relationships and environment on the identities of children and young people in foster care.”

One of the key findings to emerge from the study was that the impact of the work that foster carers do was not lost on the young people, who were keenly aware of the possible alternatives.

“This is the difference that foster carers and their families make. I know it from my own experience growing up in care. And although the measures outlined in the budget are certainly a long-awaited step in the right direction, more needs to be done to allow families to continue to make that difference”.

Foster carers are to see their allowance rise next year as a result of Budget 2004 — the first increase in the payment since 2009.

However, a former foster carer has said it is “very worrying” that the full €75 increase in the allowance will not happen until November next year.

Janice Culley is part of the group Movement 4 Change in Foster Care She said the group was disappointed with the measures unveiled in Budget 2024.

Currently, there are two weekly rates of foster care allowances. One is a payment of €325 per week for children aged up to 12 years. This will increase to €400 next year.

The €352 payment for children aged 12 years and over will increase to €425 per week in 2024.

'Foster carers are going down in number and children in care are going up and the community spirt is in danger of collapsing.' File pictrue

Ms Culley said the increase was “long overdue” and that a year is too long for families to wait for the measures to be introduced.

“I don’t under understand why it wasn’t implemented immediately” she told the Irish Examiner.

“As a movement we met with the Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman, about this and submitted a pre-budget paper.

The Movement 4 Change in Foster Care group had submitted a pre-budget paper calling for a payment increase of €150.

“You are not only giving your time for free, but it’s also your home, your car, medical expenses.

A lot of children are in danger now because there is no place for them.

“Foster carers are going down in number and children in care are going up and the community spirt is in danger of collapsing.

“I just feel we have been pushed, too many times and we should not be the easy option when it comes to delays.

“The foster carer system is already a very delicately balanced one and it needs more support and more people who are willing to come on board”.

Ms Culley stopped fostering three months ago after 30 years, during which time she had 58 placements from the care system.

“My husband Brian and I are in our 70s now” she said. “I am coming at it, from someone who is leaving the system and hoping to see younger people come on board.

“I want to see the system made easier and more attractive for new people to come in to replace people who are leaving.

I would like a complete overhaul of the foster care system with better structures put in place for carers who are caring for some of the most vulnerable children in Ireland.

“I think what has to happen is, there has to literally be more money put into the foster family, so that people can afford to foster because they can’t now and that is due to the way it is structured.

“The allowance covers the child's needs so there is nothing left over for the foster family’s needs”.

“A lot of families now, would never be in position to foster if they wanted to because they can only afford a mortgage with three rooms. To foster you would need four rooms. The child needs their own room," Ms Culley said

“There is nothing there to help you with a mortgage while you’re fostering, there is nothing there for a pension”.

Ms Culley said residential places do not provide the same sort of relationship a foster family can provide.

“They are also taking too much of the foster care budget from Tusla, so it’s a double standard.” 

Fosters carers are also not offered a pension despite their contribution to society.

“If one parent in the foster family has to stay at home to look after the foster family then they have to run into trouble because once their home caring periods are used up, they won’t get any other credit for their pension, so when it comes to claiming the pension, they fall short,” Ms Culley said.

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In a statement, the Department of Children said: “It was a priority of the minister to secure a meaningful increase to the foster care allowance in this year’s budget in order to support the vital role being carried out by foster carers.

“As outlined in Budget 2024, from 1st January 2024 the rates of the foster care allowance will increase by €25 per week, up to €350 per week for children aged under 12 and €377 per week for those over 12. The foster care allowance will be further increased in November 2024, up to €400 per week for children aged under 12 and €425 per week for those over 12.

“These increases mean that foster carers will receive over €1,700 additional funding per child over the course of 2024, amounting to an extra €300 per month by the end of 2024 for each child placed with them, when compared with the current allowance.

“In addition to the above, a double week of the foster care allowance will also be paid at the existing rates to foster carers before the end of 2023. Foster carers will also benefit from a double child benefit payment in respect of each qualifying foster child, which is due to be paid before the end of this year.

“The minister understands the disappointment amongst foster carers that the full increase to the foster care allowance will not come into effect until November 2024. 

"However, given the very many competing demands on the limited funds of the State, including from across the Tusla budget and from other responsibilities within the remit of the department, necessary compromises had to be made.