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Department of Health statistics show 4,287 children were looked after in Northern Ireland at 31 March 2026, the highest since 1995, with 83 per cent living in foster care and more carers leaving than being approved.
The Department for Education has launched a nationally coordinated fostering recruitment campaign from Downing Street, aimed at people in their 30s and 40s, as part of its plan for 10,000 more foster places.
Regional recruitment hubs and care cooperatives will use a share of £12.4m to test weekend fostering, specialist remand placements, parent-and-child fostering and better support during allegations.
Provisions of the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act 2026 began on 30 September, including a power to make councils publish foster carer allowance and fee rates separately.
Ofsted's consultation on overhauling children's social care inspection closed on 28 September. Independent fostering agencies face new grades, report cards and a judgement on how they recruit and support carers.
A Welsh Government consultation that closed on 23 September proposes that for-profit fostering services, which hold almost a quarter of fostering households in Wales, could not approve new carers from 1 April 2027.
Foster carers told Siobhian Brown, the recently appointed Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, that respect, money and council support are their priorities, at a Fostering Network event in Edinburgh.
The Fostering Network and TACT say half of foster carers surveyed expected children in their care to lose free school meals under eligibility rules that changed in September 2026.
A DfE consultation on rewriting England's fostering standards and guidance closed on 16 September. The government's response, due this autumn, will shape how every fostering service is run and inspected.
The Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers is running the second month-long celebration of care-experienced people in November 2026, with free online workshops and a social media drive.