According to the Social Care Institute for Excellence, 50% of teenage foster placements break down which leads to vulnerable young people finding themselves in multiple new homes. This lack of stability can have a serious effect on their education, ability to form friendships and overall mental health.  Blade Education in partnership with the South East Essex Fostering Community are working together to investigate how better understanding of attachment could help to reduce placement breakdown and improve outcomes for looked after children.

The Understanding Attachment Project will build on the pioneering work of the What’s Happening to Me? Project  www.whtm.org.uk that brought together those who have direct experience of the care system, either with experience of being fostered, or work with children in care, to enable more successful placements with the young people and empower more people to fulfil their potential as foster carers. We aim by continuing this model of learning in and with the SE Essex Fostering Community to find a way to begin to address the breakdown in teenage foster care placements and that with less failed placements increase retention of foster carers. We also aim to improve the resilience of foster carers in South East Essex by building a group for those experienced foster carers to be able to pass on their best practice to those that are earlier on in their fostering journey.

This project will provide carers and cared for children with information and experiences from those who have been through the care system to help cut the number of teenage foster placements that break down. Understanding Attachment has received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to make this idea a reality.