Alarm over huge profits made by private equity from foster care

Experts have raised alarm over the "commodification" of vulnerable foster children as analysis reveals almost a quarter of all foster places in England are now provided by private equity-backed companies making millions of pounds in profits.

- Jessica Murray Aamna Mohdin

Analysis for the Guardian by thinktank Common Wealth found independent fostering agencies (IFAs) are making millions via public funding from councils to provide placements for foster children, while foster carers struggle to pay bills.

Sacha Hilhorst, a senior research fellow at Common Wealth, said: "It raises concerning issues around commodification and children becoming these units for profit-making. We are seeing millions of pounds of profits being made, which I think many of us feel uncomfortable about.

There are also issues around instability because as these private equity giants gobble up more and more small providers, they become harder to regulate - and if they go bust, you'd have lots of children in an absolutely terrible situation."

Placements for foster children are paid for by councils, who either provide the placements themselves or outsource them to IFAs, which now provide about half of all places, up from a third in 2016.

Analysis has shown that the largest four independent fostering agencies are all private equity-backed and provide 23% of all fostering places in England, managing 16,365 places.