Often when I speak to people for the first time who would like to know more about fostering, they don’t raise the subject of finances.
The primary reason for this is that for most people money is not the motivating factor in thinking about fostering, however it is a hugely important consideration and therefore one I always bring up.
Fostering makes a difference to people’s lives, there’s no doubt about that… most importantly the children who are provided with a safe and caring home. The people who provide that home and security also have their lives changed for the better too. The satisfaction in being the catalyst for change for a child is life altering.
Making a difference to that child or children does inevitably need financial support and it’s crucial that this informs our decision making as a fostering agency and forms a key part of the support we provide to fostering families. That’s why we ensure our allowances are considerably higher than the national minimum recommendation. We also review these every year and in recent years have made significant annual increases to support our foster carers in the current cost of living crisis.
Our allowances are paid weekly and range from £405.00 to £642.00 per full week per child.
Additional allowances are also paid to support special occasions for children, i.e. birthdays, holidays and religious festivals.
Tax relief
Many foster carers have little or no taxable profit from fostering due to the level of qualifying care relief. A foster carer needs to do a simple calculation at the end of each tax year to find out what their tax threshold is for the year and then compare it with their total fostering payments for the same tax year.
If a foster carer’s total fostering payments are below their tax threshold they do not have any tax to pay from their fostering payments. The Fostering Network are able to offer advice and guidance with this to their members. Caritas Care funds membership of the Fostering Network for all our foster carers.
Working and fostering
We appreciate that for some people they will still wish to continue in their existing careers, either full time or part time. This will require flexibility within your current role. Along with the commitments that come with caring for any child there will additional expectations, such as, attending meetings, training and competing weekly reports. This won’t always be easy but many of our foster carers do combine the two successfully.
Employers can be very supportive of foster carers, you can ask if the company you work for are ‘fostering friendly’ and talk this through with your manager. All fostering agencies will need a reference from your current employer as part of the assessment process.
It’s good to talk
So as you can see there is quite a bit to talk about when it comes to considering what role finances play in becoming a foster carer. Please don’t be apprehensive to discuss this with us. We welcome your questions and supporting people to explore the practicalities to determine how you can change a child’s life through fostering.
Rebecca, Fostering Service Manager
