National Minimum Child’s Allowance
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- Author:Sarah Anderson
- Published:2021
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Country:
What is the National Minimum Child’s Allowance?
All foster carers receive a weekly fostering allowance, this is to cover the cost of caring for a fostered child. This includes food, clothes, toiletries, travel and all other expenses incurred.
Fees or skills payments will often be made on top of allowances. While all foster carers receive an allowance, there is no mandatory or statutory requirement for fee/skills payments to be made.
Payments and allowances should be separate and clearly identified so that foster carers know which portion of their fostering income should be spent on caring for the child in their care, and which is for the job that they do. However, some fostering services will make a lump sum ‘financial package’ which does not make the split clear.
Allowances are set at the local level and vary widely across the UK, and according to the age and needs of a child, but in England, Wales and Northern Ireland foster carers should receive at least the national minimum rates (see links below).
Scotland does not currently have national minimum allowances for foster carers, although the Scottish Government has committed to making recommendations in the near future.
What allowances should cover
Allowances are designed to cover direct expenditure on the child and additional household costs (such as furniture and furnishings, utilities and insurance).
National Minimum Allowances can be found here:
England
https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering
Scotland
Scotland does not currently have a National Minimum Child’s allowance, read more about it here: https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/mfcf
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