A recent Times article highlighted the shocking reality that residential placements for children are costing local authorities tens of thousands of pounds per week. This should be a wake-up call for everyone involved in children’s social care. The costs are staggering – but the real issue goes deeper than money.  

Too many children are living in residential care because there simply aren’t enough foster families available to meet their needs. If we want to reduce the opportunity for profiteering in the care system, we need to increase the number of loving, well-supported foster homes children can move into. 

Of course, residential care has an important role to play in the sector. For some children, it is absolutely the right setting and can provide specialist support that cannot be delivered elsewhere. But for many children, a loving family home could offer the stability, relationships and sense of belonging they need to thrive. The challenge is that there simply aren’t enough foster carers willing and able to support them. 

That’s why TACT has launched Step Forward – a specialist fostering programme designed to help children move from residential care into stable family environments.

Step Forward Fostering provides enhanced support, therapeutic training, a strong network around carers and children, and a model specifically designed to support children who are currently living in a residential setting. 

For people with experience working with children, young people or in caring roles, Step Forward can also offer a meaningful alternative to a traditional career path. It provides the opportunity to use professional skills and life experience in a deeply personal, practical way, while receiving specialist training, wraparound support and a financial package that makes fostering a realistic option for people who may not previously have thought it was possible. 

As a not-for-profit fostering charity, we believe public money should be invested in children and families, not extracted as profit. Our focus is simple: better outcomes for children, stronger partnerships with local authorities, and greater social value for communities. If we want to reduce reliance on expensive residential placements, improve outcomes for children and create a more sustainable care system, we need more people to consider fostering. 

We need experienced, compassionate individuals who can help a child take the next step from residential care into family life. We need more people to Step Forward and help transform a child’s future.