Some children not going into care due to shortages

Some vulnerable young people in Jersey are not being placed into care due to a shortage of suitable children's homes and foster carers, a minister has said.

Constable Richard Vibert Minister for Children and Families said his department was asking for more money in the proposed budget for 2026-2029 to tackle the problem.

In May the minister said he was looking for another 12 foster carers to make up for the shortage in the island.

He also announced two new children homes were opening in Jersey.

Vibert was responding to questions in the States Assembly and said: "I think unfortunately because of the lack of housing and in fact foster carers, there are some children that should have been brought into care that we are unable to do so at the moment.

"This is a situation that does worry me, hence in the budget we are asking for more money to rectify this."

One of the new children's homes will open in Georgetown next week, with another planned for St Helier, he added.

The minister acknowledged that residential homes were "not as good as foster carers" but his department is making every effort "to make them as homely as possible."

Vibert said it remained his ambition to increase the number of foster carers on the island.

He said: "We have done some successful campaigning but the conversion rate is low.

"For 2026 we have a new approach used in the UK, where you have foster carers supporting each other and we hope through that approach we can encourage more foster carers."

He also said there was a campaign to target government employees who may have potential to become foster carers.

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