Foster Care Fortnight

Foster Care Fortnight - Monday 11 May – Sunday 24 May

Dr Peter Unwin, Principal Lecturer in Social Work, highlights the importance of Foster Care Fortnight.

Foster care in the UK is a way of providing a stable family life for children and young people who are currently unable to live with their parents. In March 2025, there were 56,345 approved foster carers in England which is a loss of 7,545 carers since 2021[1].

A lack of foster carers is bad news for looked after children, it means that they have less choice about where they live, sibling groups can be more likely to be split up, and that children cannot be fostered near to their families and schools, which offers stability. In 2025, Disabled people in the UK were more than twice as likely as non-disabled people to be unemployed[2] and in this blog, we want to examine the stereotypes and systemic barriers that prevent Disabled people from becoming foster carers. Creating equitable conditions for Disabled people to become foster carers could fill the urgent gap in foster carer recruitment. The provision of more diverse foster placements could also mean that fewer children remain in unsuitable settings for their needs, whilst providing employment opportunities for Disabled people, many of whom are ‘already experienced parents and will be performing parenting and caring roles within their own families[3]’.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS), run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), indicated that in the 2023/24 financial year, 25% of the total population[4] of the UK had a disability. However, it is still very rare to find any fostering services’ recruitment adverts that include disability in their list of ‘Who can foster?’ 

Research co-produced by Shaping Our Lives, the Foster Care Co-operative and Dr Peter Unwin, Principal Lecturer in Social Work, found that, in recent years, foster care organisations have been trying to increase the diversity of people becoming foster carers. However, Disabled people do not seem to have been included as part of this trend. To find out why this is happening, the research team recruited and worked with foster care agencies, Disabled foster carers, and non-Disabled foster carers leading to a wealth of data.

The findings of this research identified considerable barriers for Disabled people hoping to become foster carers, such as a lack of role models and representation on recruitment materials, discrimination, accessibility issues, lack of knowledge on how more Disabled foster carers could provide greater choice for children needing placements, and a lack of creative thinking around ways in which foster care could prove a valuable career for Disabled people. 

Our research suggested that Disabled and non-Disabled children can benefit from positive Disabled adult role models[5], and it was perceived by the foster carers surveyed in this project that Disabled Foster Carers often had positive qualities and transferrable skills that are essential to the fostering role. Qualities such as ‘patience, resilience, calmness, energy, life experience, empathy, understanding, being impartial, communication, being open minded and non-judgemental’[6] are skills that Disabled people often need to utilise on a day-to-day basis and were perceived to transfer well to the world of fostering[7].

Disabled people being viewed via a ‘deficit’ model of disability, which focuses on how much a disability prevents a person from doing certain tasks or activities, can stop them from being seen as suitable and much-needed candidates for fostering. In contrast to this, a ‘strength-based’ approach, which focuses on an individual’s abilities, resources, and strengths rather than their limitations[8] can show what individuals are capable of doing to care for a child and the merits, highlights, and attributes they bring to the role. For example, a person of limited mobility may not be able to care for a toddler but could care for babies or teenagers.

The Research Team have used these findings to develop a tailored disability awareness training programme for Social Workers and foster agencies. The training activities offered involve case studies of different types of people living with health conditions and impairments, allowing agency staff to explore how to ensure that there aren’t unnecessary barriers or tipping points for that person if they are going through the application process to become a foster carer. Ensuring that a fostering organisation’s marketing material is accessible in a range of formats, that websites are disability-friendly, that training venues are accessible, and that reasonable adjustments were made regarding mobility issues can extend Disabled people full and equal opportunity to become foster carers[9].

 The needs of foster children come first, but if fostering organisations are serious about including Disabled people as foster carers there can be mutual benefits for children and young people, Disabled people, and fostering organisations, whilst responding to the fostering crisis in the UK. If you would like to find out more about our research into fostering or to access the training material discussed in this blog, please contact The Research, Innovation & Impact Office (RIIO) via email on researchoffice@worc.ac.uk

This research project was funded by the Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and administered by DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning).

[1] ‘Children in England Not Receiving the Right Care as Foster Carer Numbers Continue to Fall’, n.d. [accessed 2 April 2026]

[2]  ‘Disabled People’s Employment in the UK: A Thematic Review of the Literature’, GOV.UK, n.d. [accessed 2 April 2026]

[3] Unwin, Peter, Alexandra Jones, and Becki Meakin, ‘Disabled People as Foster Carers – Closing the Recruitment Gap and More’, Disability & Society, 40.8 (2025), pp. 2297–315

[4] ‘Family Resources Survey: Financial Year 2023 to 2024’, GOV.UK, n.d. [accessed 2 April 2026]

[5] Unwin, Peter, Alexandra Jones, and Becki Meakin, ‘Disabled People as Foster Carers – Closing the Recruitment Gap and More’, Disability & Society, 40.8 (2025), pp. 2297–315

[6] ibid                                               

[7] ibid

[8] ibid

[9] Unwin, Peter, Alexandra Jones, and Becki Meakin, ‘Looking Past the Stereotypes – Disabled People as Foster Carers’, Adoption & Fostering, 49.1 (2025), pp. 35–51