should foster carers contribute to transporting to and from contact

[shannon02]

I'm wanting advice and opinions on transporting foster babies to and from contact with parents.
Its not in my contract so iv refused also they have reduced babies money so its £15.86 less a week i get for her. they want me to transport 14 miles to contact 3 times a week and iv said no. We have to stand our first 25 miles which means i would only get paid £1.25 for 1 journey. The head of department has rang me 3 times and iv told him i feel bullied but still hes carrying on asking even though i keep saying no. What do you all think please?

We do and get paid for anything beyond 25miles.

We are with an IFA though and any contact arrangements are identified and agreed pre-placement.

Depends on whether it's an accepted part of having the children. Is it family fostering or other? I suppose if you're seen to be obstructive, or more bothered by the money, they could remove the children. If contact and potential reuniting with parents is being hindered by you, they may not see you as a good fit. Can you talk to a social worker and see if there is a couple promise that you'd be happy with?

No its not accepted part. I'm not being obstructive at all. fsw do all the transport. fostering wants us to do more to help out but wont pay us mileage. what they have done is reduced foster carers money and expected us to just say nothing.
Foster carers that care for age 1 and under their wage has gone down £15 a week all others has gone up yet we are pressured into doing transport. I get around 5 hours me time a week sometimes not even that. Other foster carers that don't drive don't get asked that's discrimination. I said no to transport in the placement plan. so i dont think its my job to transport.

@shannon02 no it's not your job at all if that's what you stated... stand your ground don't let them walk all over your or they will continue to do so!!

If not providing transport was accepted as part of the fostering plan, then fair enough. I'd be reiterating that. Is there a reason the amount of money has changed? Is it for everyone or juts you? If you are not financially able to foster, would you consider asking the child to be placed elsewhere? You seem to be quite frustrated about the financial loss, although obviously I realise that emotions are also involved for both you and the child. Are you still able to provide for them on the reduced amount?

I am a foster carer and feel yes it is my job to transport to contact ...

I am a foster carer, have a long term placement.
Not only do I take the child to contact (16 miles each way) but I also supervise the contact.
Fortunately we now only have contact every 6 weeks.
Previously contact was done by a support worker and was for 1 hour per week.
This was constantly being changed and child was wild when I picked them up.
I asked to do it as it was in the child’s interest.
Not only do I provide transport I also pay for Mc Donald’s and for the activity. Swimming, cinema, bowling etc.
I do this so that the child enjoys themselves. I don’t particularly enjoy this time, nor do I like the parents much but I see this as part of my role caring for the child.

Hi. I'm emergency and short term. I only do baby's. We are not allowed to do contact under any circumstances only transport and I have to park away from centre as both parents are violent towards me. Due to, well I'm sure you can guess. I don't get paid for transport at all.

Not done fostering for years and years. We used to because ours were teenagers and we wanted to be there when their parents let them down yet again. It would have felt unkind to leave a child distressed without comfort.
I think a baby three times a week is a different kettle though. That would depend on the agreement.

I'm an LAFoster carer. Travel up to a certain mileage a week is part of our contract. We always go beyond this as feel it's in the children's best interests to have the consistency of us transporting. However they appear to be asking you to change what has been agreed in your contract. Is there a good reason for this? If you think not and you can't reach an agreement in your situation I would be looking at changing agency/authority.

It's our job to facilitate contact by transporting to and from. The allowance we get covers 20 miles per day mileage and the rest we can claim 30p per mile.

We are LA and it is in our handbook that we are to facilitate 3 contacts a week. My La don't do taxi's and have been cutting back on transport costs for years now. We take our sibs to contact 3x a week which is 28 mile round trip and our other placement contact once a week, again 28 miles round trip. I also think its much better for children to be in your car and taken by you, collected by you who they know and (hopefully) trust. Makes the whole thing less stressful. We get paid 45p per mile. But if its not in your contact and has never been then I can see why you would want to say no. However it could affect you getting placements in the future if the office gossip goes around.