UNETHICAL FOSTER CARER RECRUITMENT
The phrase ‘cannon fodder’ dates back to the early 19th century. French writer, François-René de Chateaubriand in an 1814 anti-Napoleonic pamphlet, criticised what he saw as the cynical attitude towards army recruits that prevailed in the end of Napoleon’s reign: "The contempt for the lives of men and for France herself has come to the point of calling the conscripts 'the raw material' and 'the cannon fodder' (fodder of course being a type of animal feed given to pigs and other domesticated livestock)”. Growing up on a remote Scottish island, it was a term that I sometimes heard used bitterly about the large proportion of young men in my grandfather’s small village who had died in WW1; with the added layer of colonialism, many Australians and New Zealanders echo this idea in relation to other 20th century conflicts including Gallipoli.
So what’s that got to do with do with children and young people in out-of-home care? Which of these approaches to carer recruitment best describes your organisation or others that you know?
Your existing carers love fostering with you, and you have high retention rates. You have, or are part of, a clear and comprehensive continuum of care, and have a sufficient number and range of carers to meet the needs of your children and young people, with any gaps clearly understood. Carers feel that their placements are collaborative, purposeful and appropriately matched to their wishes, knowledge, skills and experience. Carers have positive professional relationships, and feel respected and supported, and also feel that they are making a positive difference in the lives of one or more child or young person. They regularly tell their family, friends and acquaintances about what they are doing with the support of your great organisation. While you may still need campaigns to ‘trigger’ enquiries and have systematic processes in place, these may focus on particular needs or areas. Your carers will also happily contribute to such campaigns and may even help to support new carers.
Your organisation has a good profile in the community. While retention levels, including for your more experienced and skilled carers, are perhaps not as high as you would like, this seems to be more about ongoing wider societal changes than a problem with your organisation. Most of your carers feel supported and you are largely able to meet the needs of your children and young people. While you only rarely have foster carer shortages, your need for new carers is nonetheless ongoing and you tend to use a range of recruitment methods on a regular or fairly continuous basis.
The quality of foster care currently is not great, but your organisation has a compelling vision that you sincerely believe in and that is sufficiently planned and resourced. Prospective carers sense that your conviction is authentic and that the organisation’s assurances are genuine. While not necessarily entirely mapped out, you are inviting prospective carers to join you on a journey and being part of a 'new future'. Recruitment may need to form one part of a larger campaign aimed at changing how the public sees the organisation.
Your organisation runs campaigns or advertises almost continuously. Your past experience tells you that many or most newly recruited carers will not last beyond their first year if that. While you hope that it will improve, the quality of your organisation’s carer selection, induction, training, matching and support is currently not very good. Many carers are overwhelmed and stressed and your placement breakdown rates are high and many carers leave the organisation on bad terms. There is a constant shortage of placements, and whenever there are emergencies, a lot of time is spent ringing round carer after carer to see if anyone can take a child for a few days. Many or most new carers will be needed to take placements that are different to what they had expected.
Which one best describes your organisation? If it is number one, your children and young people will likely have the best care outcomes. If your answer was two or three then there is room for significant improvement. Nobody wants to be in the fourth group and recruit unethically.