Allowances
As a foster carer for Diversity Foster Care, you will receive a monthly fostering allowance which will also cover child related expenditure such as food, clothing, personal care items, transportation and normal household expenses. Our allowances range from £400.00 to £700.00 per child/young person per week depending upon the child's needs. We offer carers the following categories of placements;
| Placement type | Allowance |
|---|---|
| Standard Placement | Competitive rate, please speak to the agency |
| Enhanced Placement | Competitive rate, please speak to the agency |
| Complex Placements | You will receive up to £720pw |
| Therapeutic Placements | You can receive up to £720.00pw |
| Children with Physical &/or Learning Disabilities | You will receive from £700 pw this is negotiable and depends on the needs of the child |
| Parent & Child/ Mother & Baby | You will receive between £700 to £750 pw dependent upon the needs of the parent and child |
Children's Holiday Allowance.
Carer/s who have had a child in their care for a total of 52 weeks consecutively, will be entitled to the equivalent of one weeks fostering allowance. This allowance must be used towards taking child/ren on holiday during the school summer holiday period, or taking children on outings/ days out.
We also offer a 'carers reward scheme' whereby carers are remunerated for introducing new carers to the agency. Carers wishing to care for children and young people with complex needs (such as children with challenging behaviour,, physical disabilities, parent and child, remand placements and therapeutic placements) will join our Specialist Carers Scheme and will receive a higher fee.
Specialist Foster Care Scheme
Carers who qualify to be placed on our specialist foster care scheme will have previous experience of working with and/or caring for any of the children in the list below;
- Children with physical disabilities,
- Children with challenging behaviour,
- Children requiring therapeutic support
- Children on remand,
- Mother and baby placements
You will be offered a generous allowance, additional support and in some cases access to therapeutic services. We are particularly looking for carers who are willing to care for teenagers.
Therapeutic Placement Fostering Scheme
There are many children in the care system with complex needs who require regular therapy sessions from a clinical psychologist or child related therapist.
Diversity Foster Care is recruiting carers with a background of caring for and/or working with children requiring therapeutic intervention. We offer support from an in house clinical psychologist who will work with you and your foster child by offering help and advice and by holding one to one sessions with your child.
You will receive an allowance of up to £700 pw.
For further information about this scheme please contact us.
Children With Physical Disabilities Fostering Scheme
There are many children with physical disabilities in local authority care who require warm and nurturing fostering placements.
If you have a background of caring for and/or working with children with disabilities, please contact us. You will be offered support and advice regarding adaptations and respite if required and a generous allowance.
Please contact us to discuss your application further.
Parent & Children Fostering Scheme
As a parent and child foster carer you will be required to support a single mother (usually) or in some cases a single father to care their baby.
This will involve providing them with to help and guidance together with monitoring and recording their progress. These placements are usually short-term and can be extremely rewarding. Carers on this scheme will have the following experience.
- Personal or professional experience of caring for babies
- Good monitoring, written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to set firm and consistent boundaries
Please contact us to discuss your application further.
Tax and Foster Care
This is the amount which you can receive for your caring activities free of tax. It is made up of two amounts:
- A fixed amount for each household of £10,000 a year; and
- An amount per child or person per week.
If there are two or more carers in the house receiving their caring income separately, the limit is divided equally between them. If you are a carer for less than a full year then you will get a proportion of the fixed amount based on the number of days you were a carer in that year. There are no regional changes to this amount depending on where you live in the country, nor is there any addition if you look after disabled children or adults.
The amount per week is:
- £200 a week for a child under age 11; and
- £250 a week for a child age 11 or over including the week in which the child reaches their 11th birthday. If you care for adults, the weekly amount is also £250.
If the placement is only for part of a week, the amount is allocated in full for that week.