A Hartlepool Borough Council panel has approved the local authority’s participation in the “Foster with North East” expansion in line with Department for Education guidance.
Council officers said the decision would “support improved recruitment and retention of foster carers, better placement stability and better outcomes for children whilst also delivering greater efficiency and value for money”.
They added that this comes amid the “significant and current challenges that we face locally and nationally in securing sufficient, high-quality placements for children in our care, alongside the rising financial pressures driven by market modelling”.
Chris Rooney, the council’s Head of Safeguarding Assessment and Support, said it was a “really, really good step in the right direction” and other advantages would include increased resources and more centralised support.
Officers added that the council would still have control over kinship care and connected carers, which is where children are placed with assessed family or family friends.
Alison Sutherland, the authority’s Executive Director of Children’s Services, stressed the move would provide “more opportunities to keep children close to Hartlepool,” reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The plan was praised by councillors on the Children’s Services committee.
