Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to extend the additional therapeutic support available to adoptive families through the Adoptive Support Fund to fostering families during the covid-19 outbreak.

There are no plans to extend eligibility to the fund to foster families during the COVID-19 outbreak because this fund is focused on adoptive families.

However, the government has provided over £3.2 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including within children’s social care. We will keep this under very close review over the coming weeks and months.

The government is providing free IT devices and equipment for children who do not currently have access to these, including children living with foster carers, to access services and support they need.

We are continuing to work with fostering services and sector organisations to better understand the specific challenges that foster carers are facing in order to ensure the right level of support is put in place. This includes working closely with Fosterline, an independent advice and support line funded by the department, to consider what additional support can be offered to foster families struggling at this time.