Talk to me about fostering

[dolcegusto]

Me and dh have been thinking about fostering and have made a couple of initial enquiries.

We're thinking maybe younger children for short or long term or respite care.

What are the pros and cons? Is it better to go through a local authority or an agency? Is it harder to get placements (is that the right term?) if you only want younger children? Do you get really attached to the children and is it awful when they leave?

We have 2 dds age 4 and 2, how will it affect them?

Any advice very welcome.

Bump

I have no advice, but just wanted to thank all foster carers who do respite work, and all people considering fostering. Our respite carers are wonderful to our eldest daughter, who has CP, hydrocephalus and epilepsy, when they have her overnight, and care for her so well.

Good luck OP :)

Hi dolcegusto

Dh and I are foster carers for newborn babies at the moment.

We used to foster birth to 9 year olds but I found that the babies are my passion so we now "specialize" in them.

I've only ever fostered for a LA so I wouldn't be able to advise on agency fostering I'm afraid.

Yes I get really attached to our lo's and yes it's awful when they leave. We have a lo leaving in a couple of weeks and I'm dreading her going

Once you've done all the training and been approved you should be kept pretty busy.

Good luck

Hi Dolcegusto, I'm also a FC for a LA and although I'm approved for 0-7 year olds I've only ever had babies too. I thought it would be harder to get placements for younger children but it seems it's as difficult for my LA to place babies as it is teenagers - and with my current placement I can fully understand why!!! :o

I don't have much knowledge about agencies but know that my LA is currently doing everything they can to avoid using agencies at the moment because of the cost (from what I've heard it costs about £2000 per week to place a child with an agency!) so although you would be better paid there are likely to be much longer periods without a placement. Added to that is the thought that you'd get the more difficult to place children - that's what convinced me to go with LA!

Hope this helps slightly... Good luck!

I think they state that there should be a 2 year gap in age too (between your own children and the fc), so that might restrict the age you would be able to take in

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I spoke to the LA today, they said they like a 2 year gap as p99 said, which obviously restricts us with age range. Am thinking as it can take 6 months to become approved, dd2 will be almost 3 by then so we should be ok for newborn to ones. Which if I'm honest I would prefer.

Anyway, they're sending an info pack and there's an open evening nearby soon which we'll go to where we can speak to other FCs and social workers.

Am really excited about it now, I've wanted to do this for ages but dh not so keen but is really up for it now.

the thing that it it takes 6 months to get approved is not true.
every foster carer i know was in the approval process for 2 years or more, myself included, our approval took 3 years.

my parents were foster carers when i was growing up so i have been involved with fostering all my life, the changes though are amazing.
i absolutely love fostering, i love the babies and children and all the family contact. i am very lucky in that i have never had a bad family.
it is the hardest thing to do but the most rewarding.
i would recommend it to anyone.
although i would also say that you need to give up work in order to foster babies as the level of contacts are quite high.
my little one now has 5 visits a week with mum and 4 with dad plus 2 with grandma!
not to mention hospital appointments 370 miles away once a week!
you need to be very very committed dont you eh?
i foster for my la and wouldnt go with a private agency as for me i foster for the love of kiddies and not for a wage
although i dont have a problem with anyone else doing it for money.

Hello

It took us 6 months to be approved - it happened last October. I actually enjoyed the whole process!!

I have 2 DS aged 8 and 5 and have asked to have children aged between 1 and 7 years. We were considered for a girl aged 4 but another family with more knowledge of her SEN was chosen. The selection process will certainly confirm if you are suitable / able / willing to foster - they pull no punches.

Best wishes x

Meant to add we are registered with a fostering charity so the fees for the LA are v low in comparison to non-charity organisations.

FosterMumToMany. Do you not get any allowance for the children you look after? Not even mileage allowance to cover contact and hospital visits?

My sister fosters for LA. (As did I previously). She receives £120 a week allowance per child and £180 a week foster carers fees. PLUS clothing allowance and mileage costs for hospital visits and contact.

I now foster with a non-profit making Agency. I receive £340 per week. I receive no mileage allowance for hosital or contact visits or clothing allowance. I also have to pay tax and national ins. LA carers do not have to pay tax or nat ins

I cannot fathom why so many LA carers think Agency carers are "In it for the money". I am with agency for the support - which I never received from LA, but is predominant with Agency. The money I receive is on a par with LA carers.

my babies get an allowance.
out of that i buy milk and nappies etc and new clothes...the rest goes into a savings account for them which i send with them when they go to their new homes.
they get 98 per week. so i save approximately £60-70 a week for them, after the first week (the first week i kit them out with clothes).

i have never claimed milage allowance as i do not want it.
we do not get a clothing allowance under our LA.
which LA does your sister foster for as none round my way pay a foster carers fee!

our LA does not pay any fees. just the £98 a week for the child.
so your £340 per week is no way on a par with my LA rates.

Mine pay 300 a week all in fees and allowance We do 0-6 also disabled children

I thought all local authorities paid a fee?

Are you in England?

yes im in england.
i can assure you i do not get a fee.

i foster 0-4 now but used to do 0-12

i have never ever had a fee! none of the carers with my LA get a fee...our LA cant afford to pay them.

we get christmas and birthday allowances though of £100 each occasion.

when i first started fostering we got £45 a week fostering allowance so its gone up a lot.

But you said you don't claim mileage allowance - how do you afford to take your charge 370 miles every week to a hospital appointment when you only get £98 per week to cover everything?

That's not enough for petrol.

Re the time it takes to get approved, we registered our interest with the LA last June, and went on the Skills2Foster course in November.
Panel date is currently set for May, so it's not quick! However, it does give us plenty of time to think about what we are doing and for our kids to get used to the idea.
Our LA pays an allowance and a fee, plus mileage, so compared to some, quite generous!

laurie...we pay for it out of our own pocket!

www.fostering.net/resources/statistics/recommended-minimum-allowances

I'm not sure if the above link worked. Anyone who might be interested can google Fostering Network Fostering Allowances and Fees.

Fostering Network covers ALL foster carers, whether working for LA's or Agencies.

This table sets out the MINIMUM standard allowances and fees.

I work for a LA. I foster 0-18.
I get an allowance per child.
142.00 each for the 5 and 7 year old.
177.00 for the teenager. Plus I get 88.00 per child skills allowance which is my wage. I am currantly being assessed for the higher skills level which pays 288.00 per child.
Our original assessment took 18 months.
Most carers for my LA want babies. Agencies in this area tend to mostly get the difficult teenagers that can't be placed with local carers.

Quite!

Why would any foster carer begrudge a carer a working wage when that carer has given up a well paid job to provide the best possible care to a child in need?

In my case I gave up a teaching career to foster children I have an affinity with. I hold three diplomas and a degree in child care.

Without a paying job or fostering fee I would be able to afford children in care zilch!

Must be nice to have such an income that provides the best for LAC that you can turn down a relatively small fostering fee eh?

i havent said i begrudge a carer who gets a wage i simply stated that i dont do it for a wage as i dont need it!
i also gave up a high paying job in order to foster. i too have several diplomas and also a degree in child care and child psychology.

thankyou for the link you posted i was unaware that there were set fees etc. i will be bringing this up with my team manager and at the next review.

i did know that carers in the south of england get a much higher allowance than those of us in the north but i did not know it was such a big difference.

for my family the money is not needed, but i am sure for others it would be much needed.

the only carers with my LA that get a fee are those that foster under the fostering focus scheme, who care for severely disabled children even then this is no where near the sums you mention.

mumofloads....in my area nobody wants babies, our LA are desperate for carers who are prepared to take babies. there are 5 foster carers in my town and only myself that takes babies!

there was talk a while back about introducing an enhancment element for carers of £70 per week, but they have since decided against this due to cutbacks.
the children in our area did not even get a christmas party this year or their usual outing to a pantomime as our LA could not afford to do it.
neither will there be the usual summer outing to a theme park.
so i do not forsee any increase in allowances this year!

it seems to me that this government are targeting the most vunerable and needy in society. i.e the disabled and the children who have nobody to fight for them.
but that is a different topic altoghter!

TBH there are not many foster carers who do it for the money. Such people are quickly sussed out and turned down during the assessment process.

There are lots of foster carers who take older sibling groups with huge emotional difficulties and low self esteem. In order to provide them with a reasonable standard of care LA's themselves like to see these kids attending various activities to provide them with self esteem.

How on earth could most foster carers provide the latest designer clothes and shoes for say 12 year old and 14 year old siblings as well as forking out huge fees for extra curricular activities - My 9 year old foster child attends Stagecoach at a cost of £350 per term, plus all the clothing and costumes need to be bought. My own 9 year old also attends. That's £700 per term.

A 14 year old lad I fostered for 3 years until he left care became an excellent football player. As a family our weekends were spent travelling around the country, having to stay overnight in hotels whilst the child enjoyed his sport and tried his best to further his skills. There is no way on this earth would I have been able to provide these kids with these opportunities if there was no fostering fee. The allowance hardly keeps them in clothing, shoes and food.

well i had a baby come to us directly from hospital (you name the drug he was withdrawing from it) he was in nicu for 19 days then we went collect him and brought him home. all he had was a vest. one vest.
he was our first baby placement so i had no baby clothing at all.

i contacted my link worker and said i need clothes for this boy. i was told to contact his social worker which i did.
i was told by her that i had to provide the clothes for him out of the fostering allowance. this was fine except for it took them nearly 4 months to sort out the allowance! so we bought his wardrobe out of our pocket. when i offered my recipts for reimbursment we were told we would not get the money back (by our social worker) as there simply is not the money to pay for this and that the allowance was to cover clothing etc. i then phoned his sw and was told the same story.
so had to let it go.
i telephoned every week regarding our allowance and every week was told it was being sorted. as i said 4 months later we got the allowance but they refused to back date stating they could only back date it by 2 weeks and no more. we got the 2 weeks worth plus the current 2 weeks worth. i then had to buy him toys etc and as the pram they provided was not safe (wheel kept falling off) i asked for a new pram i was told that they had provided a pram and would not be providing another. now i pointed out that this pram wasnt fit for the tip never mind to push a baby in but they would not budge. so i had to buy a pram also. all the bedding they provided for the cot was tatty with holes in etc so i had to buy new bedding.
they never ever gave a penny more than the allowance. even now if i need anything i have learnt to just buy it myself.
i recently asked for a special mattress for my current placement as she has 8 fractures and i felt a memory foam mattress would be more comfortable for her, they said this was fine but they would have to request it under medical reasons. guess what....they refused.
i spoke to her mum about it and we went halfs on one.
now i was under the impression this was standard practise for any LA but after talking to all of you i know it is not.

i have no problem with paying out for these little ones but when i hear that it is not standard it makes me feel like i have been used and seen as a bit of a mug.
im not backwards in coming forwards and am quite happy to fight and stand my ground but i have constantly been told no to everything by my LA and i am not happy.
as i have said i dont want the money for clothes and travel etc but i am fuming that they have ripped me off. its not the money its the principle of it.
i know that the other carers in my town also believe this to be normal so i will most definately be bringing it up at the next carers meeting.
i thank you all for bringing this to my attention, it is totally unfair that these children are missing out because the LA is tight. i mean who else is going to provide for them. The way i understand it when a child is taken into care the LA is technically the childs guardian or at least responsible for the childs finanicial well being. our LA is clearly not meeting their end of the deal are they.
i wont be letting this matter go as i feel its too important.
i dont understand how they can treat these kiddies this way when it seems no other LA does!!!!

today for instance. my husband has travelled to london to gosh on the train as he couldnt see to baby and drive.
the train tickets are £148 return plus there is the price of the hotel stay which is £78 for one night including his breakfast. on top of that is his dinner this evening.
we have this trip to make once a week and take it in turns.
we have been doing this for 8 weeks.
that comes in at £1808 so far and we have another 6 appoinments to go.

thats a lot of money. now i havent ever claimed travel expenses ever. but after hearing what all of you have said i think i will.
im fuming that they are ripping people off saying they dont have the funds when they clearly do.
i was talking to a lady last night from the next countys la..... she has informed me that each LA has a purse as it were for initial clothing allowances. the amount paid is at the managers discretion and it applies to every LA in england.

i really am angry that they have lied to me and the other carers.
i dont particularly want their money but how dare they lie to us all!!!!
at the end of the day we are helping them and doing them a favour not the other way around!!!!!!!

i think they are seeing me as good old becci, she wont mind, like they are laughing at us the carers behind our backs.
as i said the kiddies didnt even get a christmas party this year.
yet my link worker let it slip that the sw's had had a fantastic staff do.
how is that right?
their priority should be these children as they are mine and it makes my blood boil to discover that they are not.
sorry i will stop ranting now, i just cant stand to see the kiddies neglected in this way, who else do they have to provide for them and fight for them?

I am completely at your last post - that is completely unacceptable.

of course they should be paying for train fares and hotels if you have to take the baby to hospital appointments.

There is no way they are allowed to not back-date your fostering allowance til the day the baby was placed with you.

You need to raise with the manager of YOUR supervising social worker (not the child's social worker). And if they are incompetent you can call the county fostering payments people and ensure it is backdated.

I can categorically state you are not being compensated properly. None of this happens where I live (south-east)

There are minimum payments made for new furniture like prams/nursery furniture as set-up costs - they are an entirely different budget and your SSW will claim this for you.

STOP paying out hundreds of pounds on train fares until this is AGREED.

It is ridiculous that this is happening and I am for you. I would not be surprised if heads rolled over this - you are not being adequately supported.