The Basics - What to buy a child who turns up with not much

[potenial]

Hi Folks,

I know each child will be different depending on age, interests etc, but I was wondering if anyone has a list (with quantities) of what they buy a child who turns up with just what they're wearing, or with very little, immediately (or very soon after arrival)?
This might be an amount you 'top them up to', so for example, if a child turns up with 3 tops, do you buy them more up to top up to a certain number? Or are there things you make sure they get within a certain amount of time with you?

Thanks!

but do ALL your bills need to be paid by "taking care" of one, disadvantaged, child?

Just popping on to say THANK YOU to everyone on this thread who fosters / is thinkjng about it. It’s so, so valuable.

@beetr00

This is the last post I'm going to make here as it's clear that you do have am agenda which is foster carers are making money off children

Can you explain to me how foster carers are supposed to actually accommodate children and provide a home
It's not just about buying lovely clothes if they don't have a bed to sleep in, food on the table and a roof over their heads.

My mother was a foster carer for over 20 years for their own very personal reasons. It was not a financial decision and was a role she could do only because my father's income supported our family and the bills. When my father became ill and could no longer work the role he did, the foster caring had to also end as it wasn't about supporting the household but the reality was that my mother paid to be a carer and when the numbers were crunched there was always a deficit on what the LA had paid and what had been spent on the looked after children Not me and my siblings just their associated costs. If foster caring is such a lucrative business why are there so few people will stand up and actually do it.

@Ted27

I am actually saddened that you feel the need to leave a robust discourse wrt fostering.

Not everyone is altruistic though and yes, I do think that for some, not all, by any means, it's driven by the financials.

I have zero agenda @Ted27, it's ALL about the children, surely?

eta; if you are fostering, surely your home is already sorted to accommodate them? (ie beds etc.)

@beetr00

This is not a robust discourse on fostering, it's you making repeated accusations about FCs profiting from children.

Again, tell us how you would house, feed, clothe and provide for a child on £250 a week, and that includes the 'overheads' of the cost of housing and bills

Did you miss the bit about the broken beds, kicked down doors, holes in walls, broken TVs
If you really want a scandal look at the profits of private residential homes.

Ps - my foster child came within a hairs breath of giving me a serious head injury last night. Would you do this job?

Ok, @Ted27, a child, per household, costs £250, per week.

If that is your reality, it's acceptable, ok.

Just really not my outlay for each of my own bio kids though, per child. £250 per week?

"my foster child came within a hairs breath of giving me a serious head injury last night. Would you do this job?"

so why do it then @Ted27? What exactly is your "pay off"

I'm not trying to be a knob to you @Ted27

These children, obviously, need care and compassion.

At your/your family's expense?

Why?

@beetr00

I'm an adoptive parent, 13 years ago a frightened little boy came to live with me. He was 7 years old, he couldn't run, catch or throw a ball, attended special school. Wouldn't say boo to a goose. Severe autistic behaviours.
Today he's in his second year at university, working, tons of friends.
I would dearly love to achieve that for another child.
If I could get one more child breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect, launched into life with a hope of a decent future.
That's my 'pay off' because it's certainly not financial.
I make it work because I'm 60 and mortgage free.

And you are being a knob because you still won't explain how you would provide fully for a child on £800 a month. Not just buy them lovely clothes.

@beetr00 the numbers are recommended by a committee that considers the cost of raising a child. The immediate costs are food and clothes and extra washing. Then there’s a bigger car or more bus fares. It’s supposed to cover the extra cost of an extra room in your house. When I moved with 4 foster dc because we didn’t have enough room for them all (shared rooms couldn’t continue indefinitely) the extra cost of the removal lorry and the packing was phenomenal. And that’s before counting the actual cost of a bigger house.

Then there’s lost earnings from the jobs you can’t do.

During my time SWs did a review of every house making sure that we didn’t depend on fostering money, because of the potential conflict of interest if a child needed to move and the household couldn’t afford to lose them.
The result of that was losing a load of carers from less well off backgrounds, that couldn’t live on income from just one well paid parent.

So finances are an interesting part of fostering, it’s true!

I would go and buy..

Socks/Underwear
Few sets of PJs - Asda sell multipack of 3 for about £12 but they are often reduced
5 T-shirts, jumpers, trousers
A warm coat and shoes depending on theirs.

@Ted27

Yes, in your eyes, I may well be

" being a knob because you still won't explain how you would provide fully for a child on £800 a month"

What explanation is required. £800 a month expenditure, for ONE child?

You are absolutely, to be commended though@Ted27.

Your boy, is obviously one of the success stories.

"And breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect" is surely the goal for these children, not every fosterer, has your objectives.

I am not criticising you. Please

@beetr00 What you seem to be (willfully,?) Ignoring is that fostering is simultaneously a vocation and a job. Foster carers have so many reviews, meetings, contacts etc they can't do other paid work. So the fostering allowance needs to enable this. Furthermore as has been shown earlier, foster children on average are more hard wearing on furniture than birth children. Then you may also have the 'churn' of children where repeated kitting out is needed (and probably not hand me downs.) Fostering is a 24/7 commitment.

@beetr00

I will spell this out for you as simply as possible
Being a foster carer is a job
Foster children live with families
Families live in houses, you know those things with walls and a roof
Houses need heating and water and a myriad of other things
We take our Foster children on holiday, give them birthday parties and Christmas presents

Foster carers are not some mythical creatures who live on fresh air and fairy dust.
The fee you receive for a child includes a proportion for their accommodation costs.
Fostering a child incurs a lot of costs other than 'lovely things'
You asked what is my pay back. I told you.
If you really can't grasp this you are either deliberating goading, on a wind up or lacking intelligence
I'm done with this thread - its been derailed enough

I do, actually hear you @Ted27

I am purely highlighting, that £800, is NOT the monthly cost for raising our children.

"Foster carers are not some mythical creatures who live on fresh air and fairy dust"

Neither are parents, tbf?

You’re missing the point that this is both a vocation and a job for foster parents - they can’t go out and get other paid work

Assuming your bio children are not disabled then there is nothing stopping you from getting paid work. If they are disabled then there are various benefits available

You have to match with your own DC. So if yours do music lessons, so do they. Swimming lessons etc.
I spent more on my FCs than my own because they needed more. More entertainment, more equipment, they just have higher needs.

@SecretToryVoter "You’re missing the point"

I don't think so. Not every fostered child is disabled.

They have, obviously, had a rubbish start to their lives, through absolutely no fault of their own.

Vocation/job, is accurate though

The cost to society of a child in foster care is around £46k a year, that same child in a residential home costs £140K a year and that's before the better outcomes for children in foster care vs a residential setting.

A small roller suitcase.
Two weeks worth of socks and underwear.
Four pairs of leggings.
Four sweatpants.
Three sweatshirts/ hoodies/ zipped hoodies.
Four Tshirts.
A small cuddly toy.

Also
Pajamas - 2-3 pairs.
Dressing gown.
Trainers.

Why do you think what you think?

Evidence?

@mathanxiety "Evidence?"

is that, really, not obvious?

So no evidence then.

Just a cynical turn of mind and the inability to distinguish between fact and opinion.