Foster care: It’s time to reassess the role of social workers in our sector
October 24, 2024
Author: Sarah Anderson, Founder FosterWiki
Foster care: It's time to reassess the role of social workers in our sector.
We are currently facing a significant crisis in both the recruitment and retention of foster carers. Many are becoming increasingly disillusioned due to how they are treated, citing a ‘them and us’ mentality and a culture of fear due to an allegations system most feel is ‘out of control’.
Foster carers tell us they are feeling controlled, marginalised, and without a voice, even within support organisations that are meant to assist them, which are frequently dominated by social workers.
This sense of being treated as an underclass, viewed as uneducated and lacking intelligence, is contributing to the growing dissatisfaction among carers. It is important to recognise that the responsibility for these issues does not lie with the carers themselves. After all, they were recruited, subjected to lengthy and complex assessment processes, and trained by the very systems they now feel disillusioned by.
Before I proceed it’s important to acknowledge the pivotal role that social workers play in fostering services. This article does not seek to diminish their contributions but rather aims to re-evaluate the specific role they play within the foster carer sector. Social workers are, first and foremost, professionals in social work, and it is within this domain that their expertise is most effectively applied, in supervision, care planning, reviews, policy and oversight.
What currently happens is despite the vital nature of their work, foster carers often find themselves side lined when it comes to decisions that directly affect their profession, their personal development, and the quality of care they provide to children. A system that places control in the hands of social workers, who may have a limited understanding of the frontline realities foster carers face.
It is time to reconsider this structure and recognise that foster carers themselves should have greater control over their own profession, organisations, training and education, support systems, and practice groups. Allowing foster carers to manage these aspects of their work would not only empower them as professionals but also lead to improved retention, recruitment and better outcomes for the children they care for.
The Importance of Carer-Led Organisations
Currently, many of the organisations that oversee the foster care system are run by social workers or administrative bodies, leaving foster carers with limited say in the policies and structures that shape their daily lives. This is not only disempowering but also impractical.
Foster carers possess invaluable irreplaceable frontline experience, which gives them unique insight into the challenges and needs of both children and carers alike. These experiences are often very different from those of social workers, who, while essential to the broader system, are not living or experienced in the day-to-day realities of fostering.
By allowing foster carers to take a more central role in the management of their own workforce and organisations, they could tailor systems and policies to better reflect the complexities of their work, complexities that social workers are not qualified to understand.
Carer-Driven Training and Education
Similarly, training and education for foster carers are often designed and delivered by social workers or training professionals who have no direct fostering experience. While these ‘trainings’ may be well-intentioned, they often lack the practical depth and relevance that comes from frontline, day-to-day experience.
It is frankly absurd that social workers, who have never been foster carers themselves, are the ones responsible for educating those who are doing the job. Teaching about the fostering experience without having lived it is akin to providing driving lessons without ever having been behind the wheel, the theory might be there, but the real-world application is critically missing.
The Role of Peer Support and Practice Groups
One of the most pressing needs for foster carers is access to robust support systems. While social workers often act as a point of contact for foster carers, their role is primarily one of oversight and regulation. This dynamic can create a sense of isolation for foster carers, who may feel that their struggles are not and can not be fully understood or adequately addressed by the professionals overseeing them.
Peer support and practice groups led by foster carers themselves can provide a much-needed space for sharing experiences, venting frustrations, and offering advice. These groups create a sense of solidarity that is essential for preventing burnout and maintaining the emotional health of carers. Additionally, they offer a safe environment for discussing challenges without fear of judgment or reprisal, something that can be difficult to achieve in conversations with social workers.
The Negative Impact of Social Worker Control
When social workers control every aspect of foster care organisations, training, and support, the system becomes skewed in ways that can negatively impact foster carers and, by extension, the children they care for.
Social workers, though crucial to the system, can not be all things to all men, they are not foster carers and will never have the actual frontline experience or skills, and of course will naturally approach fostering from their perspective and training, a regulatory or administrative perspective, focusing on compliance, safeguarding, and process.
While these elements are important, they are not the whole picture. Foster carers need a system that recognises the emotional and practical complexities of their role, and social workers may not always have the bandwidth or experience to offer that kind of support.
Moreover, the current system can create an unhealthy power dynamic, where foster carers feel more like subordinates to social workers rather than partners in children’s services. This can stifle communication, as carers may feel hesitant to express concerns or suggest improvements for fear of being labelled uncooperative. Such a dynamic is ultimately harmful to the children in care, as it can prevent foster carers from advocating effectively on their behalf.
A Call for Change
Empowering foster carers to take control over their own organisations, training, support, and practice groups is not just about professional development or personal empowerment, it is about creating a system that better serves the needs of vulnerable children.
Foster carers are on the front lines of the children’s services, and their experience and insight are invaluable. By shifting control away from social workers and into the hands of carers, we can build a system that is more responsive, flexible, and effective.
Foster carers should be recognised not just as babysitters but as professionals with expertise that is essential to the well-being of the children they care for. It is time for a new model – one that respects and elevates the voices of foster carers and gives them the tools, support, and autonomy they need to succeed. The children in their care deserve nothing less.