Making decisions about long-term foster family care as a permanence plan in England: An investigation of the implementation of the first government regulations and guidance for long-term foster care

Long-term foster family care has been included as a permanence option in policy in England since the 1980s, however it was not until 2015 that it was defined in government regulations and guidance, with a required practice framework for local authorities, including reporting placement numbers annually to the government. This was intended to give long-term foster care a more formal status as a permanence option, ensure high standards of practice and promote positive outcomes for children. This project aimed: (1) to identify the profiles and pathways of children in long-term foster care and (2) to investigate the impact of the regulations and guidance on procedure and practice in local authorities. The second aim provides the focus for the findings presented in this article. The research design included analysis of administrative data, a national survey of local authorities and interviews with 43 managers in 30 local authorities. The survey results and interview data suggested that the regulations and guidance have had a positive impact by raising the profile of long-term foster care and supporting improved procedures. But there were varying patterns of implementation and significant differences in rates of long-term foster care, which did not relate to differences in local authority populations. This article concludes, therefore, that there is a need for the provision of government support to provide greater consistency in the implementation of the regulations and guidance.