What housing support would help you foster?

Foster carers and people thinking about fostering have told us that a lack of space at home / unsuitable housing can stop them from fostering, or from fostering more children. We want to hear whether that is something you have experienced, and what would help. What you tell us will help us shape the options we explore (e.g., support for extensions, access to larger homes) to help more children find a home. 

Here is an overview of the what this survey is about:

• Your answers will shape what support DfE considers, designs and where it is offered first.
• If you say you would like to be kept informed, we will tell you what happens next and whether support becomes available in your area.
• Takes less than 5 minutes; most questions are a tick-box. 
• For foster carers, and anyone thinking about fostering, in England.
• Voluntary and confidential. You can skip any question.
• Run by AchieveGood on behalf of DfE.

More information is provided below. If you'd like to take part, select 'Next Page' to begin.

More details about the survey

What is this survey about?

The Department for Education (DfE) wants to understand whether a lack of suitable housing and/or space within your home stops people from fostering or fostering more children. Your answers will show how many people are held back by housing and space issues, who’s affected, and which solutions might help.

Please note this is part of exploratory research. It is not an application for support that would be available immediately, but rather about gathering views to inform how to design potential solutions in the future. Taking part won’t affect your status as a foster carer (if you are one), or your relationship with any fostering agency, local authority or DfE.

Who is collecting this data?

This survey is run by a consultancy, AchieveGood, on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE) and using the SmartSurvey Platform.

Who is invited to take part?

We’re inviting foster carers, and people currently or previously interested in fostering across England.

What does taking part involve?

The online survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. You’ll be asked about your current home, whether you’d like to foster (or foster more), whether space and housing is a challenge, and what kinds of help could work for you. There are no right answers. We’re interested in your honest views.

Taking part is voluntary

You don’t have to take part, and you can stop at any time or select that you prefer not to respond or 'not sure' to any question you're not comfortable or unsure about. You can withdraw at any point before you submit. 

Your answers are confidential 

Only AchieveGood will have access to any personally identifying information about you, if you choose to provide this. We ask a few questions about you (e.g., age) and the first few letters of your postal code, so we can look at differences whether some people are affected by space / housing issues more than others; responses to these are optional. 

You can also choose to give contact details at the end if you’re open to a short follow-up conversation. If you do, these will be stored alongside your survey answers so we can contact you, and only researchers at AchieveGood will see them.

How we use your information

Your answers are used only for this research and reported anonymously by combining the findings, which will inform DfE’s understanding and potential future policy. DfE is the data controller and AchieveGood is the data processor. We keep your data secure, and nothing that could identify you is shared outside the AchieveGood research team. We will delete the data 12 months after the survey closes. If you give contact details, they are stored alongside your answers, used only to contact you about this research, and then deleted.

Our legal basis for using your answers is legitimate interests. You have rights over your data, including the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). For more information, please see DfE’s Personal Information Charter.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Fostering.PROGRAMME@education.gov.uk . For data protection questions, contact dataprotection.office@education.gov.uk   

Consent

By clicking ‘Next’ you confirm that you’ve read this information and you’re happy to take part in this survey.