Our foster carer payment levels and how they affect your benefits.
The motivation behind becoming a foster carer is helping children and young people, and being there for them at time of need. We'd like to reassure you that we'll do everything we can to make sure being a foster carer doesn't leave you worse off financially.
For every day that you care for a child in your home, you receive an allowance payment that covers the expenses of looking after them. The amount you receive is based on the age of the child. This allowance covers all normal care expenditure, including:
- food
- school expenses such as transport, meals, trips and uniforms
- clothing, toiletries and haircuts
- toys
- activities and outings
- household costs
We pay the allowance every 2 weeks into your bank or building society account. At some times of year, such as Christmas and other religious holidays, payment intervals may differ slightly due to working patterns.
We also make sure that you can help children celebrate their birthdays and religious festivals and enjoy family holidays by paying additional allowances.
You may also receive a substantial fee in recognition of your time and skill as a foster carer. This isn't a salary, but it does recognise the professional nature of fostering. More complex fostering, such as Parent and Child or Back to Bristol, pays a higher fee and gives you the opportunity to progress in your fostering career as you gain the necessary skills and experience.
Total payment per child per week you'll receive
Our current rates of fostering payments are in the tables below.
Level 1 foster care allowance
All foster carers will receive a basic minimum of a Level 1, age related allowance.
| Age | Level 1 weekly allowance |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | £170 per child |
| 3 to 4 | £176 per child |
| 5 to 10 | £194 per child |
| 11 to 15 | £227.34 per child |
| 16 to 18 | £276.71 per child |
Holiday and celebration payments
All foster carers receive each of these additional payments throughout the year per child for special occasions and circumstances. The seasonal payments are also age related and are meant for holidays and holiday activities.
| Age | Birthday | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 | Summer 3 | Autumn | Christmas or religious holiday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | £170 | £68 | £34 | £68 | £68 | £68 | £34 | £170 |
| 3 to 4 | £176 | £70.40 | £35.20 | £70.40 | £70.40 | £70.40 | £35.20 | £176 |
| 5 to 10 | £194 | £77.60 | £38.80 | £77.60 | £77.60 | £77.60 | £38.80 | £194 |
| 11 to 15 | £227.34 | £90.94 | £45.47 | £90.94 | £90.94 | £90.94 | £45.47 | £227.34 |
| 16 to 18 | £276.71 | £110.68 | £55.34 | £110.68 | £110.68 | £110.68 | £55.34 | £276.71 |
Levels 2 and 3 foster care fees
To progress from a non-fee paid, Level 1 carer to Level 2 and then 3, you must complete an application with your supervising social worker showing how you meet the additional requirements.
Most foster carers start at Level 2 if they meet the requirements in their assessment period by completing their pre approval training. Find out more about carer levels and how to progress later in the next section.
Your progression must then be approved by the fostering team manager and Agency Decision Maker. Your fostering level will be reviewed as part of your annual review to ensure that you continue to meet requirements.
Level 2 and 3 foster carers receive the following fixed fee in addition to the Level 1 allowance.
| Level | Weekly fixed fee in addition to Level 1 allowance |
|---|---|
| 2 | £160 per child |
| 3 | £250 per child |
Specialist foster care fees
Some types of foster care require more or less specialism and expertise than others which is reflected in the different rates.
Short breaks for disabled children
Payment is in 4 hour blocks.
For the first 8 hours of care, you'll get £35.10 in total. This is because the child is awake.
After the first 8 hours, you get £11.49 for every 4 hour block. This is because the child will be asleep.
For example, if you care for a child for one day and night, you'll get a total of £81.06.
You also get mileage at 45p an hour for activities.
Short breaks for disabled children: full time role
£489 per week with an additional £28 per night allowance for the child which is a total annual fee of £25,428.
Back to Bristol
£1,000 per week per child.
Parent and child
£800 per week per family unit.
Bristol supported lodgings
£227.73 per week per young person, £15 of which is paid directly by the young person.
Fostering allowance and fee calculator
Our fostering payment calculator can help give you an idea of what your fostering income could be in payments that are made every 2 weeks and over the year.
Foster care and your benefits
The basic Level 1 fostering allowance you receive from us does not affect your benefits. However, you still need to tell your benefits agency know that you are actively fostering.
The additional fees we pay Level 2 and Level 3 carers may affect your benefits. Find out how your benefits may be affected on GOV.UK.
Foster care and taxes
As a foster carer you will pay little or no tax on your income. You will, however, need to declare this income. For more information, go to HMRC's guidance on foster carers and tax.
You can get support from FosterTalk membership with this.
Exceptional and additional payments
You may also get other payments towards caring for children in exceptional circumstances. This would be for things like specialist hair care, additional transport for long journeys (to family time or school) or nursery fees. These payments would be covered by the Children in Care Special Payments Policy and approved by the fostering service in advance. Payments are only considered in exceptional circumstances, primarily when first setting up a foster home for a child, ideally at the placement planning meeting before the child moves in.
We're committed to supporting our carers and ensuring that they're not worse off financially due to fostering commitments. For example, we'll also consider payments for additional required or damaged furniture or equipment. Whilst we ask carers to initially claim on their insurance where they can, we underwrite that our carers will not be out of pocket by covering costs like the excess amount. Likewise, if a carer loses single person council tax reduction because the young person reaches adulthood and continues to live with you, you'd be reimbursed for this amount.
Other additional payments are:
- a Start-up Grant of up to £500 available to all new mainstream carers to be spent as you wish on furniture or equipment you need to start your fostering career
- the Special Task Allowance which can be paid to carers for activities over and above your expected fostering duties
For further details of these payments, speak to your supervising or assessing social worker.
