Child Benefit for Emergency Foster Carer

RuthnJasper

Hi, I'm wondering if someone can help me out with a bit of advice for a friend.

My friend, J, is in her early twenties and has always had a troubled family situation. She is now largely free from that and doing well. She has no children of her own.

However, I was chatting to J at the weekend and there has been some major, unspecified, "incident" involving other members of her family - the upshot being that J's 13-week-old nephew was taken by social workers from his parents' "care" and placed with J, who is acting as an "Emergency Foster Carer".

J is receiving some kind of emergency payment to cover basics, but my question is this - is J entitled to claim for any sort of child benefit while she is caring for her nephew?

I don't know if this situation is a permanent one or not, but J is struggling a bit and so I said I would ask for advice for her.

Any help that MSE'ers could offer me to pass on to J would be sincerely and gratefully appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Ruth x

MummyOfTwo

hi there, i cant help you out with specifics, but i can tell you that Local Authorities will often seek out family placements as its a very much a cheaper option, and there isnt really a set recompense. i think they are doing this because there is obviously an emotional tie and people are somewhat loath to take about money in case they look uncaring. But the truth is, babies are very expensive, and your friend must be tough with social services. If the placement runs beyond an 'emergency', your friend can obtain a special guardianship order - this means she is the legal guardian, but leaves parental rights with birth parents during that time. this will mean she can claim the usual benefits as if she were the childs parent, such as child benefit and tax credits. social services msot definitely have the means to make 'discretionary payments' - this is still much cheaper for social services than paying for an outside foster carer.

DX2

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Hi, I'm wondering if someone can help me out with a bit of advice for a friend.

My friend, J, is in her early twenties and has always had a troubled family situation. She is now largely free from that and doing well. She has no children of her own.

However, I was chatting to J at the weekend and there has been some major, unspecified, "incident" involving other members of her family - the upshot being that J's 13-week-old nephew was taken by social workers from his parents' "care" and placed with J, who is acting as an "Emergency Foster Carer".

J is receiving some kind of emergency payment to cover basics, but my question is this - is J entitled to claim for any sort of child benefit while she is caring for her nephew?

I don't know if this situation is a permanent one or not, but J is struggling a bit and so I said I would ask for advice for her.

Any help that MSE'ers could offer me to pass on to J would be sincerely and gratefully appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Ruth x

IIRC the parents can still claim the CB for up to eight weeks whilst the child is in care, then after this time they have to inform HMRC. So if the child is still with the carer after eight weks then she should apply for CB.

DX2

She may also want to look into a Kinship allowance from SS.

ETA:
Financial issues


Becoming a kinship carer can have a significant impact on your finances. You may need to work fewer hours or even give up a job. You may need to move house, so you have more room. There may be additional expenses such as clothes and toys. You may also need equipment to make sure the child you are looking after is safe in your home.
Depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to financial assistance to help you look after the child. The rules can be complex and the arrangements differ from one part of Scotland to another. Each local authority must have a scheme in place, within the next few years, to pay an allowance to a kinship carer who has been approved to look after the child under certain regulations. Your local CAB can explain in more detail what these regulations are.
Your local CAB can help you find out if you are eligible for any extra money. If you are on a low income, the CAB adviser will be able to tell you if there could be any changes to your benefits and tax credits because you have taken over the care of the child. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/your_family/family_and_personal_issues_index_scotland/kinship_care_scotland.htm

Molly41

Can I point you in the direction of Mooloo - you could PM. She also has a thread on Families and Moneysaving. I know when she took over the care of her DGD it took ages for her to receive any money and she had to write a letter as there was an argument that it was a family arrangement. However she is now being paid her Kinship money.

In the meantime perhaps the parents of the child can pay the child benefit/ctc until everything is formalised? I know that you are able to claim WTC but not CTC/ Child benefit when being paid Kinship. I also know that the child benefit will take a while to sort out as one claim has to be closed and a new one opened . That takes goodwill on the parents to sort it. Hopefully your team supporting you will be more proactive than the ones in Northamptonshire. Lots of best wishes.

RuthnJasper

MASSIVE thanks to everyone who replied. My friend and I really appreciate your advice and the time you took to share it here. x
:beer:

DX2

RuthnJasper wrote: »

MASSIVE thanks to everyone who replied. My friend and I really appreciate your advice and the time you took to share it here. x
:beer:

Hope things are going okay.

RuthnJasper

DX2 wrote: »

Hope things are going okay.

Thank you DX2, not too bad with my friend and the baby. I spoke with her last night. He's really thriving under her care. Steps are being taken to make my friend's foster care more permanent. The baby's father (my friend's brother) hasn't been turning up to his scheduled contact visits with his son and, on Monday, neither of the parents did. Makes me really cross.

I would LOVE to have a husband and a baby - and then "people" fortunate enough to be blessed with what my friend describes as a "gorgeous, bright and bubbly" and healthy child then have that baby confiscated by the state, placed in the care of their younger sister, and to cap it all, can't be bothered even to visit their baby (still only 15 weeks old) for an hour or so once a week...?! Grrrr! :mad::mad:

Very many thanks again for your help - it was very sincerely appreciated. x

puddy

she wont be classed as a kinship carer until she has a kinship assessment and is approved as the kinship carer, however, it would be right for the parents of the child to hand over their child benefit to her to help her care for their baby, she should ask the sw if the sw can put some pressure on them to do this (they dont have to)

RuthnJasper

Thanks ever so much Jenner, that's very helpful. I'll pass it on to my friend.

Much appreciated.

x

mummytofour

The social worker will have access to emergency funding for example section 17 payments http://www2.halton.gov.uk/pdfs/socialcareandhealth/cyp/cyppolsprocs/cin/SS2008CIN13

Hope that helps