FosterMatch

Foster care is facing a national shortage of foster carers. But the crisis is deepened by systems that can’t see, support or sustain them.

FosterMatch TransitionsReady TriageInsight Attenti Outcomes Consulting

FosterMatch is the first platform built to give fostering services a complete, joined-up view of their system, from first enquiry through to approval, capacity and long-term sufficiency.

Built specifically for foster care, FosterMatch helps local authorities and regions strengthen in-house provision and reduce reliance on costly external placements.

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The scale of the problem

  • 0 %

    of mainstream foster placements are with IFA’s

  • £ 0 billion

    per year spent on residential placements

  • 0 ,820

    foster carers leaving in 2025, vs 4,055 newly approved

The pressure is national.
The consequences are local.​​

The problems lie in the systems, not recruitment.

​This pressure is not caused by lack of effort, but by lack of system visibility. When decision-makers cannot see how the system is functioning, cost and risk rise together.

The fostering system is being managed in fragments.

Recruitment teams duplicate effort across multiple tools. Information is captured repeatedly, in different formats, by different people. Visibility relies on spreadsheets and workarounds rather than shared understanding.

Enquiries are treated as if they are all the same. Progression is tracked without understanding likelihood. Approved carers are recorded, but not actively planned around or sustained.

You cannot fix what you cannot see.

FosterMatch was built to make the fostering system visible.

It creates a single, shared picture of the fostering journey, reducing duplication while increasing clarity for the people running the system day to day.
FosterMatch does not replace judgement. It supports it, by showing how the system behaves, where pressure is building, and what is likely to happen next.

Purpose-built for fostering. Not adapted. Not repurposed.

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Who the system works for

  • For the people recruiting carers

    FosterMatch brings everything into one place, reducing repetition, improving visibility and freeing teams to focus on decision-making rather than administration.

  • For people considering fostering

    The journey becomes clearer, more responsive and more supportive, with communication that reflects who they are and where they are, not just which stage they’ve reached.

  • For approved foster carers

    They remain visible, supported and connected, with clearer expectations, ongoing development and a stronger sense of progression over time.

FosterMatch manages the fostering system.

It works alongside existing platforms, focusing on the part of the journey they don’t solve, visibility, flow and sufficiency insight.

What changes when the system is visible

  • When different types of enquiries are understood early...

    teams engage people in ways that reflect their likelihood, motivation and readiness, improving progression without increasing workload.

  • When carers remain visible and actively planned for...

    retention strengthens, utilisation improves and capacity is used more appropriately.

  • When leaders can see future placement pressure before it lands...

    decisions shift from reactive to planned, reducing crisis commissioning and external spend.

  • And when the system learns from its own outcomes...

    every improvement compounds over time.

Start with understanding your system.

Whether you are exploring options, planning for future sufficiency or preparing for regional models, FosterMatch begins with insight, not disruption.