Financial support 2006/2007

Foster carers receive financial help to cover the costs of looking after a child. They receive a weekly allowance to cover day-to-day expenses like clothing, food and household costs involved in looking after each child. The amount varies depending on the age of the child being fostered. Additional expenses such as bus fares or car mileage will be paid to carers who take a child to his or her school. Payments to purchase school uniforms will be given if necessary.

The payment that foster carers receive is broken down into the following components:

Weekly allowance

All foster carers receive a basic weekly allowance to cover the cost of caring for a child in their home. An allowance is paid for each child fostered. The allowance varies, dependent on the age of the child. The allowances are reviewed each year.

The current amounts are:

• Child aged 0 - 4 : £89.53
• Child aged 5 - 10 : £105.28
• Child aged 11 -15 : £124.88
• Child aged 16 -17 : £154.49

Skill level premium

A carer's skills level is determined following an assessment of their skills and abilities. Most new carers are approved as basic level carers and receive the appropriate weekly allowance when they foster a child. Some new carers will have significant prior experience of caring for children or young people that enables them to start fostering as a higher skill level.

Some carers will wish to remain as basic, level 1 foster carers; others will wish to add to the skills they bring to fostering and to do so take a range of placements, including children with more complex needs. As a carer's skills increase they can undertake a re-assessment to determine the level of skill they are operating at, from the basic level through to level 4. Dependent on the skill level that they are assessed as, they then receive an additional payment on top of the weekly allowance.

Currently the weekly payments for skill levels are:

• Level 2 £27.37
• Level 3 £54.74
• Level 4 £109.47

Payments for caring for more than one foster child

Carers assessed as being at skill level 2, 3 or 4 will also receive an additional weekly payment if they take more than one foster child.

The current weekly payments for these are:

Specialist fostering scheme

Carers who are approved on this scheme will be looking after teenagers with emotional and behavioral difficulties, or severely disabled children. These carers are expected to make a commitment to sticking with the young person through times of difficulty, and being able to fit round the young person's needs, for example if they are excluded from school. Foster carers on this scheme can receive a weekly retainer to cover periods - up to four weeks per year - when they do not have a child in placement.

These carers currently receive :

• The weekly allowance for the young person, plus
• £109.47 for skills level 4 payment, plus
• £315.42 additional weekly payment

For example, a foster carer on the specialist scheme, fostering an 11-15 year old would receive a weekly payment of:

• £124.88 (the weekly allowance for the young person), plus
• £109.47 for skills level 4 payment, plus
• £315.42 additional weekly payment

Total of £549.77 per week

And a foster carer on the specialist scheme fostering a 16-17 year old would receive a weekly payment of:

• £154.49     Weekly allowance
• £109.47     Skills level 4 payment
• £315.42     Specialist scheme payment

Total of£579.38 per week

Tax

Foster carers can earn up to £25,000 from fostering each year without having to pay tax.

Social work

We offer a range of support networks to give carers the help they need to foster with confidence.

Every foster carer is allocated a family placement worker who can advise and assist them on a regular basis.

Foster carers also receive support from the child's social worker and from other carers. This is through the carers' support group and from the informal network of support that grows up between carers.

During the evenings, weekends and holidays there is an emergency duty team worker available to provide advice and support if required.

Training

All carers receive basic preparation training before becoming a foster carer. The course is run by family placement workers and experienced carers. It covers issues around looking after children and young people and working with social services. All foster carers are expected to attend ongoing training courses, on a wide range of subjects, from first aid to managing challenging behaviour. These may be day workshops or shorter evening sessions.