LATEST SOCIAL MEDIA
WEEK ENDING 15TH FEBRUARY 2026
THE LATEST POSTS WE HAVE SHARED ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS THIS WEEK
It’s been a devastating week for foster carers.
We’ve been inundated with emails, messages and calls from carers who are hurt, angry and exhausted. The Government has rolled out its latest so-called foster care “reforms”, claiming they will bring fostering into the 21st century, while simultaneously stating that foster carers don’t “work” and that fostering is not a job.
For many carers, that single message has landed as a profound insult. It dismisses the skill, responsibility, emotional labour and sacrifice that fostering requires every single day.
Across the country, carers are taking to social media to express their desperation and sense of betrayal. The strength of feeling is unmistakable, and this moment alone risks doing serious, long-term damage to both recruitment and retention.
When carers feel undervalued, why would anyone step forward?
We want to hear from you. How has this landed for you, and what impact do you think this will have on fostering going forward?
Join us: https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 09/02/2026
Allegations are a bit like car accidents.
You don’t plan for them. You don’t see them coming.
They just happen, suddenly and out of the blue.
That’s why you have car insurance before you need it.
You can’t pull over after a crash and take out cover from the side of the road.
Union support works the same way.
If an allegation is made, you must already be a member of the NUPFC.
It’s not something you can join once everything has gone wrong.
None of us like to think it will happen to us — but allegations don’t give warning.
So don’t wait for the worst-case scenario.
Protect yourself now.
👉 Join the NUPFC today: 🔗 https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 03/02/2026
A council fostering team.
Here’s a blunt truth that never gets said out loud, without foster carers, none of these jobs exist.
No carers means no placements.
No placements means no service.
No service means no teams, no managers, they are redundant without foster carers.
We provide them with jobs.
So even on the most basic, selfish level, it makes no sense to treat carers badly.
Yet carers are leaving in huge numbers, not because of the children, but because of the system around them.
The culture. The tone. The way carers are spoken to, scrutinised, and worn down.
Carers aren’t asking for praise.
They’re asking to be treated in a way that makes staying viable.
If services won’t look after carers because it’s the right thing to do, you’d think they’d do it out of self-preservation.
Have you seen any genuine change where you are?
👉 Join the NUPFC today: 🔗 https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 04/02/2026
There’s been a quiet but serious erosion in how allegations against foster carers are handled.
In practice, carers are now treated as guilty until proven guilty — and even then, never fully cleared.
Look at the categories:
Substantiated, Unsubstantiated, Unfounded, False, Malicious
Yet even when allegations are unsubstantiated or unfounded, carers are often sent on extra training, have approval changed, or face “learning outcomes”, all to create the impression that they are actually guilty.
So a carer is never really not guilty.
What makes this worse is the growing push to remove “malicious” from the framework altogether, but only for allegations against foster carers.
The justification? That traumatised children can’t make malicious allegations.
But many carers know the reality, malicious allegations often don’t come from children, they arise after whistleblowing, complaints, advocacy, disputes, or attempts to transfer.
Removing “malicious” doesn’t protect children.
It protects systems, and silences carers.
If “malicious” is to be removed, should that not apply equally to everyone?
👉 Join the NUPFC today for the ultimate protection: 🔗 https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 05/02/2026
The biggest problem foster carers face isn’t policy.
It’s culture.
And have you noticed something?
The people with the most power in children’s services are always the ones insisting there’s no problem, “no them and us.” and “everything’s fine.”
Of course it isn’t.
You can rewrite policies all day long, but culture eats policy for breakfast. Carers consistently report that large numbers of providers don’t adhere to the NMS, statutory regulations, or even their own procedures, and nothing happens.
Why? Because services aren’t accountable to anyone.
No one marks their homework. No one challenges poor behaviour. No one faces consequences for bad practice or for how carers are treated.
Until there is independent oversight, nothing really changes. And without accountability, culture doesn’t improve, it calcifies.
Have you seen any genuine cultural change where you are?
Date: 06/02/2026
We’re raising £50000 to Support Foster Carers’ Supreme Court Case for Fair Rights
Visit our JustGiving page to view the story and donate today!
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