Home » News » Number of foster parents and foster families has risen for the first time in years

Number of foster parents and foster families has risen for the first time in years

The number of foster homes increased by almost 2,800 or 8 percent last year compared to a year earlier, reports Foster Care Netherlands. The organization has been struggling with shortages in recent years.

Despite the increase, nearly a thousand children had to wait for foster care last year. In most cases this concerned part-time nursing care. With that care, out-of-home placement can in many cases be prevented.

“We notice that part-time care is still an unknown phenomenon for many people,” says Janette Reukers, spokesperson for Pleegzorg Nederland. “About 16 percent of foster children need part-time care, but the number of parents available for this is lagging behind. Of course, it should all fit in the foster parents’ agenda.”

A total of 16,700 foster families cared for 23,272 foster children last year. The number of foster children increased by more than 500 last year.

Imaging

More than ten thousand people requested information about foster care, considerably more than a year earlier. “Those applications are partially received the campaign which we started in October last year, “says Reukers.

The number of new foster parents decreased for years. As a result, according to the organization, it was increasingly difficult to find the right match for children who can no longer live with their own parents.

With the campaign, Foster Care Netherlands wanted to change the image of foster care. “The idea was that a foster family consisted of traditional roles (a man as a father and a woman as a mother, red.) had to exist, but everyone can become a foster parent. “

Good cooperation

Incidentally, the organization does not think that the increase is a direct result of the campaign. “The campaign is not running long enough for that. On average it will take three to four months before all steps for a future foster family are taken,” says Reukers.

She suspects that the increase is mainly due to local cooperation between municipalities and Foster Care Netherlands. “There have been many local recruitments and information meetings.”

The organization says it is happy with the increase, but emphasizes that it can never stop looking for foster homes. “New parents will always be needed, if only because of the natural course.”

Foster care is a form of youth care and is provided by youth and parenting organizations that are members of Youth Care Netherlands.

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