Why foster with your local authority?
There are plenty of reasons why we feel that you should foster with your local authority - from ease of communication as we are the corporate parent for every child in care, to local training and support.
Above all of this though, we believe that nobody should make a profit from childhood trauma.
In fact, our status as a non-profit is one of the many reasons why Amanda decided to foster with GCC
We absolutely value every foster carer, wherever they are registered and, without undermining individual carers or children placed via Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs), we want to highlight the following issues:
1. Value for Public Money
As a local authority, our priority is ensuring that every pound of public money directed towards children’s services benefits the children in our care. When we place children with our own council-approved foster carers, more of that funding goes directly into support services, training, and local resources—not into private profit.
2. Cost Difference
On average, fostering arrangements made through independent fostering agencies cost local councils significantly more – sometimes thousands every week – than those made with in-house council carers. While some IFAs provide good care, these higher costs are often driven by the need to generate profit for private owners or shareholders—money that could otherwise be reinvested in children’s services.
3. Ethical Considerations
We believe that vulnerable children should not be seen as a source of profit. Our aim is to keep fostering within the public or not-for-profit sector wherever possible, so that the focus stays squarely on the child's needs and the community’s capacity to care for them.
4. Local Investment
By investing in our own fostering service, we create jobs, build long-term relationships with local families, and ensure support remains within Gloucestershire. It strengthens our community, rather than funding external organisations, many of which are owned by national or international companies.
5. Transparency and Accountability
As a public body, we are fully accountable to residents. Our fostering service is transparent, ethical, and entirely focused on outcomes for children. That level of oversight is not always present in the private sector.