New foster carer AMA

[CraftyGin]

We were approved 3 weeks ago and welcomed our first foster child 2 weeks ago.

I am happy to describe the assessment process, if that is helpful to anyone.

I can’t answer any questions about our young person.

There is a question I'd like you to answer.

Is there a financial incentive to fostering?

I ask this, because we have a foster mother near us who fosters three siblings. She tells people she gets a large weekly payment for having these kids and that it's basically a wage paid to her, and it's up to her to feed and clothe the kids out of that. She seems far more interested in the money brought in than the children themselves. So I was wondering if there's a large financial incentive and if that's the case, how to foster agencies make sure they're going to people who aren't going to financially abuse their position?

I’m not an expert on this as we haven’t received our first payment yet.

What you receive weekly is made up of two figures - the child’s allowance and a skills payment.

The child’s allowance is for a younger/older child (£185/279 in my LA). That is for their food and anything to do with them. If you don’t spend it, you should put it into savings for them, or earmark it for your annual holiday.

The skills payment is for you, and depends on how much training you have, so could be zero or £142 for level 3 - per child.

There are other payments for more complex situations.

You should not have to pay tax on these amounts.

We are not making any money as I have given up my job as a middle management teacher. However, someone with a low earning potential, who can look after more than one child, and demonstrate their commitment to acquiring skills may find fostering attractive financially.

But you don’t do it for money. Hopefully the allowances are enough to make it doable for you.

Crafty Gin describes the payment situation for his/her fostering agncy or LA. I don't recognise this. We receive a flat payment of £55 per day per child over 11 ( a few pounds less if under 11). There is no requirement to justify what is spent where etc. In addition we receive further payments for holidays, birthdays, xmas. Whilst there are generous tax breaks, if you have several children some tax is payable particularly if you have other earnings. When the question is asked "is there a financial incentive to foster ?" I would suggest this is rephrased to "Do you receive any remuneration for giving up your job and providing 24/7/365 care to children who invariably have needs that tend to be far greater than the "average" child. Without being paid we couldnt afford to foster. That doesnt mean that the care we provide is not excellent. I just dont understand why people are happy for teachers. childminders, paed drs and social workers to be paid but if foster carers are remunerated it could in some way be bad for the children.

Well said f0stercarer
We have been fostering our Fs for 10 years. He has lots of additional needs, we are approved for 3 children but due to the way he is we are unable to care for any more.
We have just been awarded an extra £70 per week ( after our new SW kicked up a stink) which we are very pleased with.
There is defiantly no financial reward for us!

@f0stercarer

Crafty Gin describes the payment situation for his/her fostering agncy or LA. I don't recognise this. We receive a flat payment of £55 per day per child over 11 ( a few pounds less if under 11). There is no requirement to justify what is spent where etc. In addition we receive further payments for holidays, birthdays, xmas. Whilst there are generous tax breaks, if you have several children some tax is payable particularly if you have other earnings. When the question is asked "is there a financial incentive to foster ?" I would suggest this is rephrased to "Do you receive any remuneration for giving up your job and providing 24/7/365 care to children who invariably have needs that tend to be far greater than the "average" child. Without being paid we couldnt afford to foster. That doesnt mean that the care we provide is not excellent. I just dont understand why people are happy for teachers. childminders, paed drs and social workers to be paid but if foster carers are remunerated it could in some way be bad for the children.

Good post, @f0stercarer. People seem weirdly squeamish about acknowledging fostering is a job — an important, sometimes difficult one, could be described as a vocation, but definitely also a job, with training, responsibilities etc. If people aren’t expecting teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors etc to work for free, then it’s very telling they appear to expect it of foster caters.

Oh, and OP, in case you weren’t aware, there’s actually an AMA section, should you want this to be seen by more posters.

Hi everyone -

I am posting here purely as finances have been mentioned; this isn't my reason for wanting to foster.

I am a cancer survivor of 4 years and have been told that I am fine to foster - I receive PIP and Universal credit to reflect this, having previously had my own business as a journalist.

I don't see foster allowance as an 'income', I see it as money for the child, or children, you are fostering. That being said, does the remuneration as a foster carer affect any other benefits that you may recieve? Or does it have no affect?

i think the important thing to be aware of is that regardless of whether you see it as money for the child or not, as far as HMRC are concerned it is treated as turnover for your business. There are generous tax allowances which mean that you are unlikely to pay tax if you only have one or two children. Not sure how it will impact on universal credit but I am sure others will have direct experience to share.

The child’s allowance covers food, clothing, transport and additional utility costs such as gas and electric. The child should also receive pocket money , treats and days out.

One piece of advise I was given by a senior SW was to never completely rely on a fostering income as it can be removed from you very quickly if an allegation is made or child removed and long drawn out investigation then happens.

@Tailsorheads

The child’s allowance covers food, clothing, transport and additional utility costs such as gas and electric. The child should also receive pocket money , treats and days out.

One piece of advise I was given by a senior SW was to never completely rely on a fostering income as it can be removed from you very quickly if an allegation is made or child removed and long drawn out investigation then happens.

This is really helpful, thank you.

I was worried that if, for example, our foster child was moved on successfully to adoptive parents we would then have to reapply for any benefits that I was entitled to, then lost as I was seen as having an income from fostering.

It was just the actual process behind it all that I was wondering about, if we foster then like I said before, it wouldn't be for financial gain although I do think foster carers view renumeration as something that they can't ask about (they should - it's a job!), but at the same time I wouldn't want to end up financially worse off than what I am now as I can't physically work a full time 'regular' job (I suffer with cyclical pancreatitis therefore I'm viewed as unreliable in the traditional 9-5 sense).

I hope that makes sense? Sorry if I haven't articulated that well enough.

I mentioned previously about the child’s allowance, but the allowance for FC is an allowance for you. It is not a wage as you are not employed. As it is an allowance it may not interfere with any benefits you get

Surely there is a massive juxtaposition there @Amybelle88
If fostering is a job, and thus has renumeration, then someone with a periodic serious illness rendering them too unwell to work should not be foster?
Genuine question, as period pancreatitis cannot be fun at all..

@theredjellybean Thanks for the concern it's really appreciated.

I would be fostering alongside my husband, not solo - my pancreatitis is a funny one to explain; it is triggered by hormone fluctuations - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, there's no calling it, but I am back on my feet in a day or so. When that happens, my husband is also at home so would be taking on equal responsibility.

We too were told not to rely on the fostering allowance as it can stop at any time. We had to show 3 or 5 (can’t remember it was a long time ago) years bank statements.
I gave up my job to foster so we would be relying on my partners wages ( not a lot!)
We intended to foster for a couple of years then I would go back to work. This didn’t happen as the 2nd child we had turned out to have lots of extra needs and would be hard to place with another carer. We were told they would probably end up in a Children’s home. We decided they would be better off staying with us so here they are until they decide they’ve had enough of us!!!

That's actually reassuring that they say don't rely on the allowance - it means when it's taken away that financially for us there will be no change thus we will be in the same position as we are now, which is what I was hoping for.

Thanks so much!

@Amybelle88

Hi everyone -

I am posting here purely as finances have been mentioned; this isn't my reason for wanting to foster.

I am a cancer survivor of 4 years and have been told that I am fine to foster - I receive PIP and Universal credit to reflect this, having previously had my own business as a journalist.

I don't see foster allowance as an 'income', I see it as money for the child, or children, you are fostering. That being said, does the remuneration as a foster carer affect any other benefits that you may recieve? Or does it have no affect?

Congratulations of your 4 years!

The assessment process for becoming a foster carer will include a health assessment. We didn't have a personal check due to Covid but our assessing social worker contacted our GP.

In my county, the payment is made of two parts - one for the child's expenses and one to reflect our 'skills'.

We foster and DH has terminal cancer so receives PIP, it is unaffected by the fostering allowance and as far as I know UC is unaffected too but you cannot claim UC for any child you are fostering.