Foster Carers -Professional Salary

JennyJewell

Hi David and Geraldine,
Thank you for your reply and I completely agree with everything you said - I think when I wrote my post I was concerned for children who are in foster care with people who do it for the money and the money only but neglect or abuse the children in their care, ( I had probably read some sad story that day and I know that the many, many good foster carers out there far outweighs the rare occasions where the wrong kind of people are caring for children).
Personally I would absolutely love to be involved in fostering myself, one day,(currently I work with teenagers and young adults with special needs and I love it). Hubby isn't ready for it though and I'm not sure he ever will be although he does love children - I don't think it would be fair therefore to go ahead with fostering when only one partner wants to
I do wonder though if I would be able to foster in the daytime or is that just a child minder job then??
I think I would be a good foster carer/parent - I'm not a perfect parent but I have been a great mum
Congrats to you both on your many years of caring and giving and if you or anyone else can guide me in the above I would be very grateful x
Jenny

Daichip wrote: »

Interesting post Jenny.

we have been foster carers for 11 years. In the early days we had to pay for private nursery for children.

As for your quote children should not be seen as a career. What about childminders, teachers, nurseries? If there were no foster carers there would not be any socail workers, support workers, certain lawyers, judges etc. In addition it also provides jobs for taxi drivers secretarial staff etc etc.

Foster carers look after children 24/7 and are responsible for their welfare, we have to account for every mark and scratch they have in addition to being open to allegation. Foster carer should be on twice they are on now. (and get an MBE)
I can understand your concerns as for those people wanting to do fostering for money, but the process to get registered is long and thorough with a lot of training and accounability, so these people will soon get found out.
May I also add that as foster carers are self employed they are also able to claim family tax credits as their income, in most cases, are "0" due to the different tax laws for foster carers.
A lot of foster carers are not aware of their right to claim family tax credits. They are also allowed to claim interest on their savings also with a R85 form.

Kind regards


David and Geraldene
Foster CArers MBE?:beer:

Caseyface

snowbrow wrote: »

I have always known I wanted to be a foster carer but at the moment I feel I would be laughed out the door by my la.

I work with special needs kids in a school, have a degree in social care but am 24 yrs & single
But a friend of mine who starts her foster carer training next month says our local authority are crying out for more foster carers and would consider me, is it worth me applying yet or should I wait a few years???


Thanks for any advice/ opinions

Read this book, it's phenomenal!
A Mother Like Alex: One Defiant Woman. Nine Special Children

Labrisse

This is a fantastic thread and fostering is always something i have thought of doing.

But i have a few questions which i guess are specific to my case but maybe of use to other people.

Fostering is something i would like to do once i have kids? What age does your youngest has to be before you can foster.

Also my OH has a child from a previous relation ship who stays with us but it is not set days as he works shift. Would that be seen as a problem?

Thanks
x

libbydoll

My youngest is five. We are hoping to be through the process in April, and we have been told we can take kids from birth to four. The authority advise that you foster kids at least a year younger than the kids already in the home. It may be different for different councils.

nixinixi

Labrisse wrote: »

This is a fantastic thread and fostering is always something i have thought of doing.

But i have a few questions which i guess are specific to my case but maybe of use to other people.

Fostering is something i would like to do once i have kids? What age does your youngest has to be before you can foster.

Also my OH has a child from a previous relation ship who stays with us but it is not set days as he works shift. Would that be seen as a problem?

Thanks
x

A long time ago I worked for a fostering agency. Then the rules were that a foster child could not share with your own children (whether they were with you permantly or not) and also that any regularly visiting children (ie step children) would still need there own place....eg wouldn't be allowed to sleep on the sofa so you could have a foster child. HTH

Thegirl

Hi
My parents have fostered for fifteen years and I just wanted to drop in a few notes about their experiences and the impact it has on your family.

They started in agency foster care. The children they dealt with were ones who had already been through the care system and were deemed 'too difficult' to remain in local authority foster care or children's homes. They were on the whole very troubled had long criminal records, were victims of abuse, drug addicts, awaiting trial for serious offences and/or any of the above. They worked within agency care for five years. They are still in touch with most of the chilren.

They now work for the local authority. More than anything they wanted to meet the children earlier on in the cycle. It's still just as hard work and you still experience kids with the same problems, just less well paid!

On the subject of payment. You may get a lot of cash per week per child (that will be the oldest age group as they're the most difficult, it's not a lot for young kids) but remember your costs, their rooms, bedding, tv, food, additional clothing on top of their clothing allowance, birthdays, christmas, insurance costs spiral, days out in the summer, child care if you're working. There are a lot of costs out of that money.

They prefer at least one of you be working so you don't rely soley on fostering as an income.

You will need to have the support of your friends and families. It's hard, long work and it impacts every part of your life, just the same as having your own children would. You need a big heart, patience, understanding and love.

Your family and close friends will have to have police checks if they they are in your house a lot. Not a big deal, just a form. They'll also have to realise that regardless of how much you love them, sometimes the foster kids come first. Just the same as sometimes you have to go to your 9-5 day job and stay late.

Social workers. This isn't a bashing session, but you have to understand they are so overworked. Not all of them can be effiencent all of the time. Don't assume they will always be able to help or support, they simply can't. Get to know other carers and make sure you have your own support network who can help you with real advice. You meet people on the training courses and NVQ course, most are happy to swap advice and information.

Age shouldn't be a barrier to fostering, either old or young. Suitable room is though.

You can register just to foster at weekends/holidays, you would be supplying respite care. It's a good way to get to know if you could do it perminantly.

greenslime

Just so you know, local authorities tend to pay a lot less than IFA's (Independent Fostering Agencies). If I remember rightly, FCA (Foster Care Associates) currently pay £55.75 per night per placement but other agencies, such as ISP or Xcel pay in the region of £60+ per night per placement.

I agree with a lot of other comments made by the other people on here: that fostering should only be done out of the kindness of your heart, not for money. There are always two types of carers, ones in it for the money as foster carers can theoretically earn up to nearly £30,000 per annum tax free, and the carers who literally provide 24/7 care for placements who are really poorly