FOSTER A FUTURE

NEWCASTLE CHILDREN'S SERVICES

FOSTERING SCHEME OF FEES AND ALLOWANCES

This Scheme of Fees and Allowances should be read in conjunction with the Foster Carer Contract, of which it is a part.

Introduction

Foster A Future is the Fostering Service of Newcastle City Council and all the Foster Carers who provide care to children placed with them by Foster A Future are paid a Fee for their service, and a Boarded Out Allowance, which is a payment to be spent on the care needs of the child. Both the Fee and the Boarded Out Allowance are paid into the Foster Carer's nominated bank account each fortnight as a single sum. No other Fees or Allowances are paid by Foster A Future with the exception of those given below.

The Fee and Boarded Out Allowance are based on the age and assessed needs of the child. In line with Government recommendation, the Scheme is based on a Three Tier model of need; Tier 1 is for the majority of children placed with Foster Carers, assessed as having mainstream levels of needs, Tier 2 is for those children with difficult to manage behaviours, physical or learning disabilities, or other identified special needs, Tier 3 is for those children who would meet the criteria for specialist Multi-Dimensional Treatment Fostering.

When a child is referred for a fostering placement to the Placements Team of Foster A Future, they will be assigned to Tier 1 or 2 of the scheme by the Head of Children's Social Care, based on the Social Worker's assessment of the child's needs. Children's needs change with age and development, and with successful care outcomes, and so it is anticipated that a child may move between tiers, and for this reason children placed in Tier 2 will be reviewed frequently to ensure they move to Tier 1 when, and if, this becomes possible.

10/11 allowances (payable from April 2010)

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

2. Table of Boarded Out Allowance Percentage Spends

To help Foster Carers with their budgeting, the below table indicates the percentage spends on the child's needs from the Boarded Out Allowance based on age, per week.

It is recommended that the child should receive as Pocket Money each week approximately half the amount of spend suggested in the `Personal' column. This may not always be appropriate to the child's needs and the actual sum should be agreed by the child's Social Worker, Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker on placement and written down in the Fostering Placement Agreement.

The following figures are based on Tier 1. For Tier's 2 and 3 the percentages remain the same, but the amount will be different.

Respite Care

An additional 4 weeks Fee and Boarded Out Allowance has been included in the total figures given in the table of payments for Tier 1 and Tier 2. This sum of money is given to the Foster Carer so that they can purchase respite care from Foster A Future either for the child, if this is included in the care plan, or for themselves. For each day the child is away from their care, a percentage of the Fee and Boarded Out Allowance will be deducted. This deduction will fund payment to the respite carer where appropriate. If a child has respite with a relative, a deduction will still be made from the main carer.

Those Foster Carers who choose not to take respite, or who have a child placed with them who has no identified plan of respite, will not have any deduction made from them.

If a Foster Carer requires day care for a child in their care to allow them to attend a training course at the request of Foster a Future, or to attend a meeting in relation to the child, no deduction will be made from the main carer. The Placements Team must be informed of the reason the day care is required when the request is made.

Tier 3 attracts 12 weeks additional Fee and Boarded Out Allowance.

(In order to facilitate the transition to this Scheme of Payments from the previous scheme, some Foster Carers who attracted additional allowances because of the special needs of the children placed with them have been offered transitional respite care and Tier status arrangements. These will cease when the child leaves placement)

Christmas, Birthday and Holiday Allowances for the Child

An additional 4 weeks of Fee payment has been included within the annual Fee total sum, so that the Foster Carer can spend money to the equivalent value on the child on these occasions.

A child may not always be in placement with a carer for a whole year, or having had a birthday, for example, may leave placement soon afterwards and another child come into placement who also has a close birthday. These situations are rare and Foster Carers are expected to provide for a child on these occasions from their Fee; additional payments will not be made to the carer.

Additional Payments

There are no other additional payments in fees or allowances of any kind except for the `start-up' package available to Foster Carers who have babies placed with them, and for car mileage.

Start-up Package for Baby Placements

In preparation for the first baby placement they have, a Foster Carer may claim payment for the following items. This payment will only be made once. For each subsequent placement the Foster Carer is responsible for replacing these items as necessary. However, cot mattresses must be replaced with each new placement, and the Foster Carer may claim £50.00 towards this cost each time the mattress is replaced. Receipts must be kept and presented to Foster A Future when claiming for the cost of a new mattress.

Car Mileage Allowance

It is the responsibility of the Foster Carer to transport the child to and from school, to and from arranged activities outside of school, and to and from contact, unless otherwise agreed by their Supervising Social Worker and recorded in the Placement Agreement at the outset of the placement.

Transport costs have been factored into the Fee and Boarded Out Allowance Payments as seen in Table 2 above, but for Foster Carers using their own cars to provide transportation to school and arranged activities, an additional allowance of 31.7p per mile is payable. This sum is reviewed annually.

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Foster a Future - Scheme of Allowances

May 2010