Hampshire County Council wants to find out what residents across the county think about fostering and is calling for people to take part in a quick, online survey. The County Council is particularly keen to hear from those who are not involved in, or had previous experience of, foster care.
Currently there are over 500 fostering households in Hampshire, but more are needed to meet growing demand for children’s social care. The County Council wants to find out and understand what could motivate people to both consider and take active steps to become a foster carer. The feedback will help to shape possible changes to the foster care service in future, including the provision of any additional support.
Councillor Patricia Stallard, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services and Young People, commented: “We would be really grateful if people could take just a few minutes of their time to answer some simple questions that would indicate their views about fostering. Whether people have an interest in foster care or not, their answers to our survey will make an important contribution towards helping us to help vulnerable children in Hampshire.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have a great community of foster carers across the county but the fact of the matter is that we always need more – not necessarily because there are always more children but because we will always have foster carers who retire, relocate to other areas or, for a variety of other reasons, are unable to continue fostering.”
The online survey - http://bit.ly/HCCfostersurvey - will be open until midnight on Sunday 17 November 2019 and should take about 10 minutes to complete. All responses will be anonymous as no details relating to personal identity are required to take part and complete the survey.
Anyone who is thinking about fostering and wants to know more can call 0300 555 1384 or visit the Finding Homes for Hampshire Children web pages: https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/adoptionandfostering
