POLICY AND GUIDANCE PAYMENTS OF FEES AND ALLOWANCES TO FOSTER CARERSFOR THE YEAR

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1 POLICY AND GUIDANCE PAYMENTS OF FEES AND ALLOWANCES TO FOSTER CARERSFOR THE YEAR POLICY Foster carers are paid sufficient allowances and agreed expenses to ensure good quality care for the each child or young person in placement. Allowances and fees are reviewed annually. GUIDANCE Payments to foster carers comprise of two elements: Maintenance Allowance for the child Fee for foster carer The maintenance allowance is based on the national minimum fostering allowances which are set at a level to cover the full cost to the foster carer of caring for an individual child. Our regulatory duty is to ensure that we pay the minimum allowances published by the Department for Education (DfE), England and the Welsh Assembly Government for We are pleased that the TACT maintenance allowances exceed the minimum allowances recommended by these two governments The fee for the foster carer is intended as a reward or remuneration to reflect, in part, the skills of and time used by the foster carer. This has been revised to allow for a more realistic allocation of fees, resulting in a more equal distribution across age bands. STANDARD FEE TABLE AGE TACT MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE FOSTER CARER FEE WEEKLY PAYMENT Amended August 2013 Page 1 of 5

2 SPECIAL NEEDS FEE TABLE AGE MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE FOSTER CARER FEE WEEKLY PAYMENT The fee to the foster carer is enhanced for those caring for children and young people with special needs. This reflects the skills required and also the extra time and physical care required for this particular group of young people. BREAKDOWN OF MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCES The following represents an estimate of the approximate cost of caring for the child based on the Fostering Network guidance. AGE FOOD CLOTHING TRANSPORT PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD TOTAL (31%) (29%) (29%) (22%) (8%) (7%) (11%) (9%) (9%) (11%) (13%) (21%) (30%) (27%) (21%) (18%) TRANSPORT This amount is to cover all direct transport arrangements for the child, such as travel to and from school or social/leisure activities. It will also cover reasonable transport costs associated with contact, school outings and visits and court attendance. HOUSEHOLD This represents the young person s share of: the accommodation provided property, furniture and equipment maintenance costs the cost of utilities and other expenses associated with the house PERSONAL ALLOWANCES This allowance is designed to meet a variety of personal needs, as well as cover pocket money and savings. It may be used for the older age group to cover, for instance, the cost of hair care products, phone cards or personal telephone calls. For the younger children it may be used to cover the cost of leisure activities such as swimming or dancing lessons, learning a musical instrument, magazine subscriptions etc,. Many households will want to supply personal care items (shampoo, deodorant, shaving gear) as part of the weekly shop or from the general housekeeping pool. There needs to be some discussion at the outset of a placement about how much of the personal allowance element should be spent by the carer and how much given to the child or young person in the form of pocket money. Amended April 2014 Page 2 of 5

3 Pocket money There are two basic principles, which apply to pocket money: There needs to be some measure of equality between children within the foster household. Therefore, carers need to take into account the pocket money paid to other children in the household. The pocket money should be realistic depending on the age of the child. Children can be encouraged to save their pocket money to buy special items as well as for treats such as sweets, CD s, or games. In any event, the pocket money should not exceed the personal allowance. Savings The issue of savings is of paramount importance, and has been raised by Regulatory Inspectors, Independent Reviewing Officers and Local Authority Social Work staff. The matter will be reviewed formally at each foster carer review. (The respective Local Authority may choose to raise the matter at the child s own Review). Every foster child for whom there is a planned placement of three months or more or who remains in placement for longer than three months must have a savings account set up by their foster carer and the money saved should be backdated to the date of placement. For those children who are in placement for a matter of days or weeks, a cash sum equivalent to 10 a week should go with them when they leave the placement. The money saved in that account is for the future needs of the child or young person, when they move onto independence or leave care to return to their birth family. Carers will pay into the child s savings account on a regular basis, but at least monthly, the equivalent of at least 10 per week at a minimum. This is the expectation of most Local Authorities. Higher levels of saving may be required where individual Local Authorities specify it. There is nothing to stop a foster carer saving more than the minimum amount if they so wish. The Personal element of the weekly maintenance allowances breakdown includes the minimum savings of 10 for all children. The savings account must reflect the name of the child and should be capable of being transferred with the child on leaving placement. If it is not possible to open a savings account in the child s name due to the appropriate documentation not being available, then an account should be opened in the carer s name, and the savings placed in that account until such time as it is possible to open an account in the child s name. Any tax consequences on the carer of doing so should be financially negligible and can be met from the household element of the allowances. It is now possible to open an account for a young person that reflects their religious beliefs. This relates particularly to children who practice the Islam faith. Certain High Street banks have recently advertised specific non-interest accounts, and both carers and staff are reminded to be mindful of these when planning for savings. Failure to open an account for a child or young person, will be discussed with the respective TACT Area Manager, and continued failure will be reported to the Fostering Panel, to which the carer(s) will be asked to attend and explain their reasons for noncompliance. Amended April 2014 Page 3 of 5

4 Should a carer continue to refuse to open an account, the amount of savings relevant to the child or young person s age shall be deducted at source by TACT and an account held centrally. On leaving care, the savings accrued for the young person will go towards assisting them in their move to independence. Should they return to the care of the birth family, the money will be paid to the respective Local Authority for the young person. Foster carers have a responsibility to prepare young people for leaving care. One priority is to help them to learn the art of budgeting and managing their finances. It is expected that young people approaching the age of leaving care will be encouraged to utilise their personal allowance (which may also include some of the clothing allowance) in a way that demonstrates their understanding of the value of money. For such young people, the foster carer should save at a level that would provide sufficient funds to contribute towards setting them up in their own home. MONITORING The Supervising Social Worker and Foster Carer should ensure that there is discussion about pocket money and savings at the start of a placement and that this issue should be monitored regularly throughout the duration of the placement. The Supervising Social Worker should ensure that appropriate use is being made of the personal allowance through regular discussion and observation. They should ensure that they have seen the savings book periodically and also talked to the child as appropriate to their age and understanding. All the above should be fully recorded on the child s file. If there is any doubt or difficulty with carrying out the above, this should be discussed between the Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker and their Line Manager. CHILD AND PARENT PLACEMENTS Guidance for Social Workers Re Child and Parent Placements made on or after 1 September This guidance seeks to standardise the fees and allowances foster carers are paid in respect of Child and Parent placements in as much as they can be, given the fact that each often has its own particular circumstances and requirements. It is important for SSW s and carers to recognise that there may be some common features to these placements, there may be others that are different so allowances TACT pays carers may differ between each placement as local authorities pick and choose what elements of the allowances they fund. Each Child and Parent placement may have its own requirements. In the case of a parent under 18 it is likely this young person will be treated as a Looked After child in terms of the allowances they should be receiving. However if they are subject to an independence preparation programme the local authority may wish the young adult to receive allowances similar to those they may receive when they have left the placement. Child and Parent placements require a different skills set from mainstream fostering placements so in all placements where a carer has a child with a parent over 18 they will receive an enhanced fee element for the duration of the placement. During the planning stage prior to the placement being made, the local authority requirements should be fully understood so it is clear what the carer and TACT will be responsible for. If this is not possible then it must be clarified at the earliest possible point. Amended April 2014 Page 4 of 5

5 Generally parents under 18 will be Looked After and carers will receive the usual level of allowances for them and have the same obligations towards them in terms of savings and pocket money that they would for any older teenager. In most cases adult parents will be in receipt of their own incomes and be responsible for their own clothing and personal expenditure therefore the weekly amounts in the fostering allowances for clothing ( 62.95) and personal ( 50.84) will be deducted at source As a consequence of the above carers will not be expected to make savings for the adult, nor will pocket money be paid. Parent and Child carers will receive weekly allowances for food, household and transport. It is unlikely the parents will be eating separately and TACT is always likely to be responsible to ensure parent get to assessments so the transport part of allowances should be maintained to this end. Savings will be required to be made for all children placed whether their parent be a child or adult. Carers will be expected to put unspent allowances for children into the child s savings as they would do with those children in mainstream placements. Should the period of assessment end and the parent leave the carers home for whatever reason than in most cases good child care planning would dictate that the child will remain in placement until the longer term plan can be agreed. Once the Parent and Child placement has formally ended the fees and allowances will revert to that which normally would be received for a carer with a young child. Table Showing Payments to TACT Foster Carers Child & Parent Under 18 Child & Parent Over 18 Fee element for child Child Allowance Subtotal Fee element for parent Food Household Transport Clothing Personal Sub Total Total weekly allowance With child and parent placements where the carer is likely to be receiving an allowance for both the parent and the child detailed discussion must take place at the initial Placement Planning Meeting to clarify the financial arrangements. The above is a guideline recommended by TACT, but there may be individual situations where different arrangements will be made through negotiation with the local authority. Where the parent is over 18, as a general rule parents will be expected to buy food, clothing and nappies out of their own benefit payments, but this has to be agreed on a case by case basis. Amended April 2014 Page 5 of 5