What is the Fostering Allowance?

When you open your home to a child through fostering, you receive a weekly fostering allowance. This payment is designed to cover the costs of caring for a foster child and to provide a professional fee for your invaluable work. It's a crucial part of the support package that enables foster carers to dedicate their time and efforts to nurturing a child.

The fostering allowance is intended to cover all the day-to-day expenses associated with looking after a child, including:

• Food and Drink: Covering healthy meals and snacks, including specific dietary needs like Halal.

• Clothing: Ensuring the child has appropriate and comfortable clothing for all seasons and occasions.

• Utilities: Contributing to increased household bills such as heating, electricity, and water.

• Travel and Transport: Covering journeys to school, appointments, family contact, and leisure activities.

• Personal Care Items: Toiletries, hygiene products, and other personal necessities.

• Pocket Money: Providing pocket money for the child, appropriate to their age.

• Activities and Hobbies: Enabling the child to participate in social events, clubs, and outings.

It also includes a professional fee component, recognising your commitment, skills, and the dedication required to be a foster carer. This ensures that fostering can be a viable and rewarding path.

Additional Support and Incentives

Many fostering agencies understand the varied needs of foster families and offer additional financial support and incentives on top of the weekly allowance. While specific offerings vary significantly between agencies, some examples of what you might find include:

• Celebration Allowances: Payments for special occasions such as Eid, birthdays, and sometimes even Christmas, to ensure foster children can fully participate in family festivities. The amount and what's covered are agency-dependent.

• Holiday Allowances: Some agencies provide additional funds to cover the costs of taking a foster child on holiday, or may even pay for the child's travel abroad if you're taking a family trip.

• End-of-Year Bonuses & Incentives: Some agencies recognise and reward their carers' dedication with annual bonuses or other performance-related incentives.

• Activity Funding: Contributions towards fun events, like an annual trip to a theme park, safari, or other family attractions. Many agencies also hold free workshops and activities for foster families throughout the year.

• Practical Assistance: Depending on the agency, you might receive help with specific costs such as taxis for school runs, private tuition for the foster children, or other unforeseen expenses related to the child's development and well-being.

• Respite Care: Agencies often provide paid respite care, allowing you to take short breaks to recharge, with the child staying with another approved foster family.

Important Note: All the additional allowances, bonuses, and support mentioned above are entirely subject to the specific fostering agency you ultimately work with. What one agency offers, another may not.

Can I Foster if I'm Receiving Universal Credit?

Yes, absolutely! Being on Universal Credit generally does not prevent you from becoming a foster carer. The UK government actively supports individuals on benefits to foster, recognising the vital service foster carers provide.

Here's why:

• Fostering Allowance is Largely Disregarded: The weekly fostering allowance you receive is, for the most part, not counted as income when calculating your Universal Credit entitlement. This means your fostering payments typically will not reduce the amount of Universal Credit you receive.

• Extra Bedroom for Fostering: If you receive the housing element of Universal Credit, you may be able to claim for one extra bedroom for fostering purposes, even if you don't currently have a foster child placed with you (as long as you remain an approved carer).

• Reduced Work Requirements: Depending on the age of the foster child in your care, your work-related requirements for Universal Credit may be reduced or waived, allowing you to focus on caring for the child.

What you need to do:

You must always inform the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that you are an approved foster carer and are receiving fostering allowances. While these payments are generally disregarded, it's essential for them to be aware of your circumstances.

We can discuss this in more detail during your free phone consultation, helping you understand how fostering might specifically affect your personal financial situation and benefits.