Money

[Jax9]

I do fostering for the right reasons, but nevertheless the money aspect has to be right. I feel like i get paid relatively alright for the job i do and this is my fulltime job. I foster through an IFA and currently get a £1,000 (Twin 6 year olds) a week and am getting an increase as of tomorrow. That figure is pre the money i spend on them and the other costs. Within my IFA im pretty sure im one of the lowest paid.
I am curious how much this ranges for different areas, and expectations because some seem to get paid so low or they are only quoting their reward element of the fostering money they recieve.

WTH I’m doing a kinship foster assessment for my Grandson atm through the LA and I will get £166 a week if I’m successful and can’t claim anything else for him !!!!
and they wonder why no one wants to work as a local authority foster carer and everyone works through agencies !

Seriously only £166 a week!? That is awfully low. You must be able to claim universal credit on top of that as well?
I can claim universal credit as well as the council doesn't recognise any money i recieve as earnings. They actually class me as unemployed, but i don't need to look for work.

Hi OP, whereabouts in the country are you? Different regions pay higher - particularly the south.

I earn no where near that but I am an LA carer.

Do you spend all the child element of that?

At the IFA I work at the pay varies between £360-500 ish per child per week. There are variables on age and complexity of need.

This is in line with what the local authority I work for pays.
I would think that for OP to be receiving that level of payment, there is a high level of individual need for the children she is fostering. The local authority wouldn't be paying thise sums out of public funds without very good reason to be doing so.

My friend gets £750 a week but cannot work due to high care needs and sheer number meetings, appointments etc and school asking for pick up! In addition she receives some uc, and dla for the young person. She isn’t wealthy but can pay her modest mortgage, bring up her current foster child plus her now adult foster child has a bedroom in holidays (at university, receives no money for him now). She gives her foster child the allowance as stipulated by her agency plus pays for everything. As a single person it’s her only income and keeps a troubled young person out of a children’s home

The children i look after are at the basic low level rate, they don't have any additional needs or complex issues.

I am in Kent, so very much the South East. So i suppose to expect slightly higher rates than elsewhere in the country. But even so the rate difference is huge comparable to others. I understand cost of living is probably slighter higher, but even so the rates elsewhere seem very low.

My IFA i have about £100 a week of that is the child element. Tbh i think it's too much money as most bio families can't afford that and if reunification happens the children have become used to having more money spent on them, than what most families can afford.

Do you put some of it away in an ISA or similar for the children? That’s what most parents do, even if it’s just a little. As you think you get too much, you could put it into bonds for them? They’d really appreciate it when they get older.

They have an account for when they become adults and i used to put more in, but for some reason the local authority told me not to. So now i only deposit the set amount each week.

I don’t think they can mandate that? Have you asked what would happen if you put more in?

Are you sure it is only that? Ours is £170 pw child element. I've never heard of it as low as £100 pw.

I understand what you are saying about birth families but that's not for you to worry about. The money is there to give the kids the best you can whilst they are with you. They may be with you a long time and reunification might not happen for a long time if at all. Plus I think that buying the kids liver clothes/ toys etc will be taken with them if there is reunification so the kids will still get use out of them and it helps bio families whilst they get back on their feet.

My la pay 410 per week per child, that's the minimum

This.

Agency carer above you on £1000 a week for twins, thinks on lowest pay. Agencies there to make a profit, any money spent on them is less spent on young people.

Kinship and local authority carers really struggle. They should have more to cover costs. It's wrong.

I work for a LA and get £2133 a week.
£1200 is my pay and the rest is the children's allowance. I have three children and am a level 5 carer.

I foster for an LA and get about £1,300 a week. That is my fee (which is per child) plus the allowance for each child. I foster 3 children so would get a lot less if I had only one. When I first started fostering over a decade ago I got £35 a week no matter how many children I looked after plus each child’s allowance which was probably about £100 per child then. I definitely feel more financially comfortable these days.

i read a comment on a FB post the other day that said foster carers should get child benefit like bio parents do and that should be it. Now I didn’t go into fostering for the money but it still always annoys me that some people think we should be literal saints and just foster out of the goodness of our hearts for no money. Often the kids we look after are traumatised and put us through hell. Yet we’re expected to look after them for free? Why shouldn’t we be paid well for our time?

Wow. Most local authorities don't give allowances anything near that level. My LA allows a standard £50 a day, to feed, clothe, pay all bills and be responsible for/able to look after for 24 hours a day!

No idea what LA pays at that level.

£50 per day is £350 per week, and she has 3 children so that would be £1050….. not hugely far off the £1200 that @NotMyUsualName23 says they get. Especially as they’re a level 5 carer.

I would say if you want to put more away tie it up in an isa or high interest account in your name.
when they reach 18 if they need to claim benefits any savings will be deducted from what they get

You're getting £5600 a month? Bloody hell. It's no wonder the uk care bill is billions.

And what would the cost be if those children were in a children's home instead of foster care?

In an ideal world children wouldn’t need to be in care. But as some do, yes the UK care bill should be high as foster carers should be reasonably paid.