Fostering and Carer's Allowance

[shaz298]

Hi there,

We are likely to be applying to be fostercarers after the new year.

At the moment I get Carer's allowance for caring for my little boy who is disabled. Does anyone know if I will still get this or if it will be stopped?

I can find loads of great info re how tax credits etc are influenced by foster caring but not Carer's Allowance.

Thanks

Sharon x

I would phone the citizen advice bureau and ask, but I wouldn't think that you would have it stopped, as the allowance is to provide care to meet his needs, and you get fostering allowance to take care of the foster child - that sounds muddled hoping you get the drift :S

I am foster carer for a la and also get carers allowance for my son. Carers is taken as taxable income so would have to be counted for tax credits and end of year self assesment tax forms.
I think this is correct.

Thanks x

Hi, I emailed the Carer's Allowance dept and this is the answer I got....

Fostering Allowance is normally paid by the Local Authority to foster parents. It comprises of:

Boarding out allowance - a reimbursement of costs incurred
Additional enhancement allowance - a reimbursement of additional costs incurred
Reward element - a payment to recognise the time and skill needed to care for a disabled child (also known as the taxable element).
Where a fostering allowance from a local authority is paid through a fostering agency, the allowance can be disregarded where:-

the whole sum paid by the fostering agency to the customer is provided by the local authority
the local authority are providing funding because the child is under their care for the purposes of the Children Act, and
the local authority placed the child with the carer under section 23(2)(a) of the 1989 Children Act.
Fostering Allowance, or money paid for fostering, that is paid under the following criteria is completely disregarded:-

Paid by a local authority under section 23(2)(a) of the Children Act 1989
Paid by a local authority under section 26 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
Paid by a voluntary organisation under section 59(1)(a) of the Children Act 1989
Paid by a care authority under regulation 9 of the Fostering of Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996

TBH I'm not any wiser... how does this legisslation relate re fostering fro Barnardos or other such agency???

Any help much appreciated. Think we'll probably lose the Carer's allowance which is fine, but would just like to know.

Thanks

Sharon x

When I applied for carers they phoned me to clarify who I fostered for, I said la and they said good as it would all be disregarded, they said if it was an agency it got more complicated but didn't elaborate as it wasn't relevent to me.
Sorry can't be more helpful.

I think you would still be entitled to it and your ds still needs this extra care - the only way you might not get it is if the foster child has additional needs and you are paid a premium for that as you can only claim one lot of carers allowance regardless of how many you care for - in that instance it might be better letting your dp claim carers allowance for your ds rather than you.

I agree with Nickschick and Sumum the carers allowance is you DS's income not yours and is non means tested, any money received from fostering is also non means tested and is either money paid as a reward for doing it - or to cover expenses resulting from fostering

Hi,

It gets complicated because of the rules for Carer's allowance. You are not allowed to earn more than £100 per week in order to get it, so hubby can't claim it.

Unfortunately it is for me and is classed as a taxable income for the person who gets it....

we'll just have to wait and see.....way too complicated for me..xx

Ahhh - sorry didn't realise that :(

I am sure that you will get it all sorted out when you get approved

just gonna stick on the end of this even though i n=know its an old topic.

my hubby gets ca for me and it has never affected anything.

providing you foster for an la you should be fine.
if you get paid a fee or a wage, you will lose your ca.

so to clarify, hubby gets ca for me and yes you have to declare it for tax credit purposes but fostering through an la does not affect your carers allowance.

Hi, I'm also interested in fostering but am also on carers allowance for my son, what company is it that you are able to do this with?