POINT 15/100 Do Your First-Contact Staff Understand Why People Consider Fostering?
Do Your First-Contact Staff Understand Why People Consider Fostering?
Point 15/100 — The 100-Point Foster Carer Recruitment Review
For the last four Points we have concentrated on intelligence about the market.
Point 11 asked what Foster Carer capacity we actually need.
Point 12 asked where we should build it.
Point 13 examined where the future audience might be.
Point 14 turned that intelligence into a recruitment territory plan.
Now something happens.
Somebody enquires.
The advertising has worked.
The community activity has worked.
The Foster Carer referral has worked.
The website has worked.
Something has prompted an individual to finally cross the line between:
thinking about fostering
and
contacting a fostering provider.
What happens in the next few minutes could matter enormously.
THE ENQUIRY IS NOT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR JOURNEY
This is one of the most important things I would train anybody answering Foster Carer enquiries to understand.
The enquiry may be our first contact with them.
It is not necessarily their first contact with fostering.
Somebody may have been thinking about fostering for:
six weeks,
six months,
five years,
or twenty years.
Department for Education behavioural research found substantial variation in how people approached fostering. Some had researched extensively; others had done relatively little before making contact. Some people waited because they wanted every question answered, while others were more inclined to act and work things out as they progressed.
That tells us something important.
The person enquiring is not a blank sheet of paper.
They arrive carrying:
ideas,
expectations,
fears,
experiences,
questions,
assumptions,
influences,
family conversations,
and a reason for contacting you today rather than last year or next year.
A good first-contact conversation should begin by trying to understand some of that.
"TELL ME WHAT HAS MADE YOU THINK ABOUT FOSTERING NOW?"
If I were training first-contact Foster Carer Recruitment staff, this is one of the questions I would want them to become comfortable asking:
"Tell me what has made you think about fostering now?"
Notice what it does not ask.
It does not say:
"Why do you want to foster?"
That can sound like an interview question.
It can sound as though the individual has already entered assessment and needs to produce the correct answer.
Instead:
"Tell me what has made you think about fostering now?"
invites a story.
And stories contain information.
Perhaps:
"My children have just left home."
"My sister fosters."
"I've worked with children all my life."
"I saw something online."
"I've thought about it since my own children were small."
"I was in care myself."
"My partner and I have been talking about what we want to do next."
"I've recently retired."
"Somebody at work told me I would be good at it."
Those are very different starting points.
So why would we give each person exactly the same conversation?
MOTIVATION IS MORE COMPLEX THAN "I WANT TO HELP CHILDREN"
Most people know instinctively that saying:
"I want to help children"
sounds like the right answer.
And it may be completely genuine.
But it does not tell us very much yet.
Department for Education behavioural research identified several forms of motivation associated with fostering and adoption, including wanting to make a difference or give something back, wanting to nurture and provide stability, family-related motivations, personal fulfilment and experiences from people's own lives. It also found that social encouragement — including knowing people who already foster — can influence confidence and willingness to proceed.
That means the recruiter's job is not merely to record:
Motivation: wants to help children.
It is to become curious.
What does that mean for this person?
Why fostering?
Why now?
What experiences brought them here?
Who else has been involved in the decision?
What do they think fostering will be like?
What excites them?
What worries them?
That is recruitment.
LISTEN FOR THE TRIGGER
There is often a difference between someone's underlying motivation and their trigger to act.
They may have thought about fostering for years.
Then something changes.
A friend says:
"You'd be really good at this."
Their youngest child leaves home.
They move into a larger property.
Their working arrangements change.
They attend an event.
They see a Foster Carer's story.
They meet someone who fosters.
Government behavioural research found that direct exposure to people who fostered often gave prospective carers a more balanced picture of the role and helped people see somebody "like them" doing it successfully.
That trigger matters.
Because it tells us something about how this person's decision is developing.
FIRST-CONTACT STAFF SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE DECISION JOURNEY
Foster Carer Recruitment teams often receive training on:
eligibility,
recording systems,
data protection,
the fostering process,
what happens at assessment,
and what information they must collect.
All important.
But I would add something else:
Train them in candidate motivation.
Teach them that somebody may be:
EXPLORING
"I'm interested but I don't really know anything."
RESEARCHING
"I've been reading about it for months."
VALIDATING
"I think I can foster but I need to check a few things."
COMPARING
"I'm speaking to several fostering providers."
READY
"We've discussed this as a family and want to move ahead."
INTERESTED BUT NOT YET
"I'd like to foster, but probably not immediately."
Those people need different conversations.
Treat them identically and we risk either:
pushing somebody who needs space,
or slowing somebody who is ready.
THE FIRST CALL SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE AN INTERROGATION
There is an unavoidable qualification element within Foster Carer Recruitment.
There are things we need to understand.
Housing matters.
Household circumstances matter.
Children in the household matter.
Health can matter.
Employment arrangements can matter.
Safeguarding absolutely matters.
Nothing in this Point suggests otherwise.
But sequence matters.
Government-commissioned research into Foster Carer recruitment reported that the initial enquiry process can feel invasive and that some services were trying to move away from a sole emphasis on extracting information towards also creating space for prospective carers to ask what they need to know and decide whether the service is a good fit for them.
That is an important distinction.
The first conversation should not feel like:
Question 1.
Question 2.
Question 3.
Question 4.
It should feel like:
a professional conversation.
THINK ABOUT WHAT THE PERSON HAS JUST DONE
This is easy to underestimate when Foster Carer enquiries are part of your everyday job.
For the member of staff:
It's Tuesday's seventh enquiry.
For the person calling:
This may be one of the biggest conversations they have initiated in years.
They may have discussed it repeatedly with their partner.
They may be nervous.
They may worry that they will say the wrong thing.
They may already assume they will be judged.
They may have spent months deciding whether they are "good enough".
The DfE behavioural study identified fear of judgement, uncertainty about personal abilities, anxiety about knowledge and concerns about the process among barriers prospective applicants can experience.
The same research concluded that the point of first enquiry needs to feel like an open door: somewhere people can ask questions and explore options without fear of judgement.
That should influence how we train staff.
THE PERSON ANSWERING THE PHONE IS PART OF THE RECRUITMENT STRATEGY
This is why I sometimes challenge organisations that describe Foster Carer Recruitment as primarily a marketing problem.
Suppose marketing generates 1,000 additional enquiries.
If the initial conversation is weak, what have we achieved?
Marketing can create opportunity.
Recruitment converts opportunity into progress.
And the first-contact person may be the first human representation of your entire organisation.
The prospective Foster Carer is learning something immediately.
Are these people interested in me?
Are they listening?
Do they understand fostering?
Can I trust them?
Will they support me?
Are they trying to rush me?
Do they sound organised?
Do I feel comfortable asking difficult questions?
That experience is part of your proposition.
CURRENT GOVERNMENT THINKING IS MOVING IN THIS DIRECTION
The Government's 2026 end-to-end Fostering Hub model explicitly includes relational recruitment practices, such as regular check-ins, proactive coaching, taster sessions and informal question-and-answer opportunities. It also identifies out-of-hours contact and the possibility of a Foster Carer buddy being introduced from the completion of an enquiry.
That is significant.
It moves Foster Carer Recruitment away from the idea of:
advertise → capture lead → process form
towards:
relationship → information → confidence → appropriate progression.
That is much closer to professional recruitment practice.
ASK YOUR EXISTING FOSTER CARERS
One of the simplest ways to train staff properly costs very little.
Talk to the people who already completed the journey.
Take twenty of your successful Foster Carers.
Ask them:
Why did you first think about fostering?
How long had you thought about it before enquiring?
What was happening in your life at the time?
What finally made you contact somebody?
What nearly stopped you?
Who did you discuss it with first?
How did your partner feel?
How did your children feel?
Why did you choose us?
What did the first person you spoke to do well?
What could they have done better?
What would you tell somebody in the same position today?
Now you have something incredibly useful.
Not a national marketing persona.
Your own local recruitment intelligence.
BUILD A MOTIVATION LIBRARY
I would go further.
Anonymise that learning and create a simple internal motivation library.
For example:
LIFE STAGE
Children leaving home.
Retirement.
Career change.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Worked with children.
Been fostered.
Family connection with care.
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Knows a Foster Carer.
Recommended by someone.
Saw local fostering firsthand.
PURPOSE
Wants meaningful work.
Wants to contribute.
Wants to make a difference.
FAMILY
Wants fostering to become part of family life.
Has discussed it for years.
TRIGGER
Local event.
Advertising.
News story.
Social media.
Conversation.
Now first-contact staff begin recognising patterns.
Not to stereotype people.
To understand them better.
GOOD RECRUITERS DO NOT ASSUME THE MOTIVATION
There is a danger here too.
If somebody says:
"My children have left home."
do not jump to:
"So you're looking to fill the empty nest."
Maybe they aren't.
If somebody says:
"I've retired."
do not assume boredom.
If someone says:
"I work with children."
do not assume they understand fostering.
The skill is not guessing motivation.
It is exploring motivation.
That requires good questioning and, even more importantly, good listening.
WHAT DOES GOOD LISTENING SOUND LIKE?
Perhaps:
"Tell me a little more about that."
"How long have you been thinking about fostering?"
"What was it that made you decide to contact us today?"
"Who else have you talked about this with?"
"What does your partner think?"
"What's the biggest question you have at the moment?"
"What have you already found out?"
"What are you hoping fostering might look like for you?"
None of these questions lower standards.
None bypass assessment.
None pressure somebody to foster.
They simply help the recruiter understand where the prospective carer is starting from.
DIFFERENT MOTIVATIONS REQUIRE DIFFERENT INFORMATION
Imagine two callers.
CALLER A
"My sister has fostered for twelve years. We've been thinking about it for three years and our youngest has now gone to university."
CALLER B
"I saw your advert this morning. I've never really thought about fostering before but it made me curious."
Why would we give them exactly the same opening conversation?
Caller A may already understand:
assessment,
placements,
training,
allegations,
support,
allowances.
Caller B may not even understand the difference between fostering and adoption.
The recruiter's skill lies partly in working out:
Where do I need to start?
DO NOT CONFUSE MOTIVATION WITH SUITABILITY
This distinction is essential.
Somebody can be extremely motivated and completely unsuitable to foster.
Someone else may initially sound hesitant and ultimately become an exceptional Foster Carer.
Motivation is information.
It is not an approval decision.
The first-contact team must never be trained to:
persuade unsuitable people,
ignore concerns,
promise approval,
or lower safeguarding expectations.
The objective is:
Understand the person well enough to identify the appropriate next step.
That next step may be:
progress,
provide information,
arrange another conversation,
involve a partner,
suggest attending an event,
introduce a Foster Carer,
nurture for later,
or explain sensitively why fostering may not currently be appropriate.
That is professional recruitment.
"NOT NOW" IS STILL INFORMATION
Suppose somebody tells you:
"I desperately want to foster, but my youngest child is only two and after talking this through I think I need to wait."
That isn't necessarily a failed enquiry.
That might be:
a future Foster Carer.
The DfE's recruitment research emphasised the importance of supporting people appropriately when they are not currently ready, communicating decisions sensitively and keeping channels open where appropriate.
If we understand motivation, we can also understand whether somebody is:
No
or:
Not yet.
Those are very different pipeline outcomes.
TRAIN FOR CONVERSATION — NOT JUST PROCESS
So here is my Point 15 recommendation.
Take everyone who handles initial Foster Carer enquiries.
Train them in:
MOTIVATION
Why do people consider fostering?
TRIGGERS
Why now?
QUESTIONING
How do we discover that?
LISTENING
Do we hear what somebody is actually telling us?
ADAPTABILITY
Can we vary the conversation appropriately?
EMPATHY
Can people ask uncomfortable questions without feeling foolish?
KNOWLEDGE
Can staff answer accurately?
BOUNDARIES
Do staff know when something requires professional exploration rather than a quick answer?
NEXT STEPS
Can they agree a sensible progression?
That is a recruitment skillset.
HERE IS THE TEST
Listen to ten first-enquiry calls.
Not to catch people out.
To understand the experience.
How long passes before the prospective Foster Carer is asked why they are considering fostering?
Are they asked at all?
Who talks most?
Does the conversation feel natural?
Do staff ask follow-up questions?
Are they listening or completing fields?
Does the caller get enough opportunity to ask questions?
Does the staff member adapt?
Does the individual leave understanding the next step?
And perhaps the most revealing question:
Would you have enjoyed being on the other end of that call?
THIS IS WHERE HUMAN INTELLIGENCE BEGINS
The first four Points of Stage Two helped us find:
the need,
the geography,
the audience,
and the territory.
Point 15 begins something different.
Understanding the individual.
And once we start asking why somebody wants to foster, another question immediately follows.
What might stop them?
Because motivation and concern often arrive together.
That takes us directly to:
POINT 16 — DO YOUR STAFF UNDERSTAND WHAT STOPS PEOPLE FROM FOSTERING?
100 points.
10 stages.
One end-to-end examination of Foster Carer Recruitment.