Fostering Pay Levels
Your foster carer payment is designed to ensure it fully covers the child or young person’s allowances, your reward element, and the overall support required.
How is the right carer payment level decided?
The level of your carer payment is influenced by several key factors, including:
- Age of the child or young person - Allowance levels vary by age, with lower allowances for younger children and higher allowances for older young people.
- Type of placement - Different placement types have different payment structures. These may include:
- Mainstream
- Sibling placements
- Enhanced
- Complex
- Parent and child
- Staying Put
- Specific needs or additional costs - Payments may be adjusted to reflect additional requirements, such as higher school transport costs, specialist dietary needs, or support for disabilities.
Why does the placement type make a difference?
Placement type matters because it reflects the level of needs, support, and care required for the child or young person. Different placement types involve varying levels of responsibility, complexity, and time commitment, which in turn influence the carer payment level.
Please see the summary below for how each placement type impacts the level of support and corresponding payments.
Placement Type
Consideration for Carer Payment
Mainstream
The needs of the child or young person may be challenging, but not to the same extent as enhanced or complex placements. This typically results in a lower reward element, and significant specialist support (such as therapeutic input) is usually not required.
Siblings
When siblings are placed together, some costs can be shared, for example, food, transport, or household resources. Because of these efficiencies, many Local Authorities reduce funding for sibling groups, which may lead to a lower carer payment.
Enhanced
Enhanced placements are for children or young people with higher levels of assessed need. Local Authorities determine this category based on specific criteria. These placements often require increased support and can be more demanding, resulting in higher support costs and an increased carer payment.
Complex
Complex placements involve very high levels of need, exceeding those of enhanced placements. The Local Authority will define the criteria and support requirements. Funding is higher to provide additional resources, which leads to a higher carer payment.
Parent and Child
This placement type involves caring for both a parent and their child, often while a parenting assessment is being completed. Payments are higher to reflect the support required for two individuals.
Staying Put
When a young person turns 18, they become eligible for their own benefits, and their foster care status ends (unless an extension or agreement is in place). As a result, foster carer allowances cease because the young person is “staying put” rather than being formally fostered.
Please note that the placement type references above are used for commissioning frameworks and approval purposes. At Sunbeam Fostering Northwest, we are committed to supporting each child or young person as an individual, and these terms are used only within contractual requirements and relevant documentation.
In addition to placement related payments, Sunbeam Fostering Northwest also provides additional payments for:
- Birthday celebrations for the child or young person
- Religious events and celebrations
- One-off essential costs, such as initial clothing when a child or young person arrives with very few belongings
- Respite periods
- Loyalty payments in recognition of your continued dedication and hard work as a foster carer