There is a high turnover of staff and a high reliance on agency staff at some residential centres, which results in a lack of continuity and consistency for children. Furthermore, three quarters of carers are over 40 years of age, more than half of them are engaged in fostering on a long-term basis, four in ten are related to the children being fostered and 16% of all foster families are headed by a single parent. Some families derive great satisfaction from fostering and it is incumbent on us to understand the critical success factors which contribute to this.