Fostering Fortnight: Supporting and Empowering Carers through Digital Solutions
Discover how digital solutions can empower foster carers, improve outcomes for children, and help councils deliver more responsive, sustainable care.
As we look back at another brilliant Fostering Fortnight, which once again celebrated the critical work of foster carers and services across the country, we’ve been reflecting on how to move from recognition to real change.
At Channel 3 Consulting, we recognise the challenges of effectively supporting children and foster carers in a sector under increasing pressure from rising needs and financial constraints.
Our Children’s Services and Education team, including frontline practitioners and fostering service development specialists, know first-hand what a difference it makes when carers feel valued, supported and connected. Creating this culture requires sustained, relational work and technology is critical in enabling it - not in years, but by the next Fostering Fortnight in 2026.
Foster carers are the backbone of the care system, but that backbone is creaking
The public debate often centres around the rising cost of children’s homes, but fostering remains the foundation of children’s social care. As of March 2024:
These carers do vital, complex, and often exhausting work. And yet, too many feel unsupported, under-recognised, and burnt out.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, there was a net loss of 765 foster carers. The reasons are consistent, and avoidable:
Digital transformation isn’t a silver bullet but it’s a powerful enabler
We hear the same messages time and again from carers, social workers, and service leaders across the country. The priorities are clear and digital solutions can play a central role in responding to each.
Here are some of the key ways digital innovation can improve the foster care experience:
1. Access to information and support, when it matters most
Too many carers feel left in the dark at critical moments. Only 35% rate out-of-hours support as good or excellent.
Digital tools can give carers immediate access to guidance, practical advice, and responsive support, without having to chase or wait.
Opportunity: Self-serve portals, 24/7 advice lines, or AI-enabled FAQs tailored to local policies.
2. A single, clear view of the child
Just 53% of foster carers feel they receive enough information about the children they care for.
A shared digital view of the child, which is holistic, accessible, secure, and up to date, will transform preparation and planning, reduce anxiety, and build trust.
Opportunity: Integrated child records with real-time updates and easy access for carers, social workers, and relevant professionals.
3. Making the voice of carers count
Only 57% of carers feel treated as equal partners by the child’s social worker.
Carers want to be heard, not just surveyed once a year. Co-production needs to be ongoing, engaging, and part of the daily workflow.
Opportunity: Digital feedback tools from co-production platforms to real-time feedback loops that allow carers to share their views regularly, and see how their input shapes the services around them.
4. Building real, supportive communities
Foster carers often work in isolation, especially in rural or under-resourced areas.
Technology can help carers connect across boundaries, forming peer networks based on shared experience, geography, or the needs of the children they care for.
Opportunity: Online communities, neighbourhood digital hubs, and secure messaging platforms that encourage connection and collaboration with other carers and the team around the child.
5. Enabling trust and delegation
Under delegated authority, foster carers are required to make important day-to-day decisions for the children they care for. Navigating legal frameworks and parental responsibility to support decision-making can be complex, and requires clear communication, and adequate training and guidance. However, systems and processes can often get in the way of carers and social workers, let alone help.
Let’s ensure they are supported to make timely decisions through responsible innovation.
Opportunity: AI-guided prompts with policy safeguards, decision-making dashboards, and digital workflows that clarify roles and responsibilities.
6. Cutting through admin to free up time for care
Social workers are starting to see the benefits of digital automation, but carers haven’t yet.
Too many are still doing daily logs, health records, and reports manually. The time lost could be better spent with children.
Opportunity: Voice-to-text note capture, digital logbooks, and integrated platforms that reduce duplication and simplify reporting.
2026 doesn’t have to look like 2024
If we’re serious about supporting foster carers, we must move beyond appreciation and toward action. Digital transformation is not just about efficiency, it’s about equity, voice, respect and enabling carers to care.
The first step is listening. But listening alone isn’t enough. We must then act, deliberately and with pace. Digital transformation must not bypass the people who care, it must centre them.
So, let’s ask:
If you spoke to 100 foster carers, what would they say matters most?
And how much are we investing in making that happen?
Because for every carer who leaves, there’s a child who misses out on experiencing family life. And that’s not something we should ever accept as inevitable.
We’re ready to explore this further with you, whether you’re a service leader, social worker, carer or young person. For conversation about how technology can be used to improve carer support, retention and recruitment, please get in touch.
Let’s make Fostering Fortnight 2026 a celebration not just of good work, but of real, sustained change.
Written by:
Alex Stevenson, Principal Consultant, Channel 3 Consulting
Zoe Trott, Senior Consultant and registered Children’s Social Worker, Channel 3 Consulting