Ms Kate Duggan:

That reference relates to best practice models with regard to fostering and foster care. In some countries, we almost see a professionalisation of foster carers in terms of them being employed as full-time carers providing a foster care service. In other countries, we are looking at a much more significant wraparound service to foster carers where key workers go into the home to support foster carers, especially where young people are presenting with more complex needs and more challenging behaviour.

We have set out a plan and certainly, colleagues who work with me in the areas of policy and practice look at taking the best of those models and working with foster carers. That is what is really important. This plan was developed in consultation with a couple of hundred foster carers. It is about working with those foster carers and piloting models. There are models around peer support where we employ foster carers to become peer supporters to other foster carers. I do not think it will be one size fits all. A the moment, we are looking at maybe piloting three of those models with foster families to see whether they make a difference in the context of what foster carers are telling us they need and what we know the children and young people in their care need.