Media links relating to Fostering

There are nearly 70,000 children in the UK who are in foster care.
Foster carers main concern has to be the children they look after, including many who have experienced neglect and trauma. But they are self-employed, so there are also financial considerations, from allowances and fees, to tax returns and receipts.

In this programme we'll hear from charities, foster carers and care leavers. We'll also discuss new analysis from the Fostering Network, which found foster carers face a post code lottery when it comes to fees they’re paid. Foster carers are given an allowance to pay for clothes and food - but they're also usually paid extra on top to recognise their time and skills. Those fees aren't fixed though, and local authorities can each individually decide how much to award. Using freedom of information requests the charity found 60% of local authorities across the UK are paying foster carers the equivalent of less than £5 an hour based on a 40 hour week. Local Authorities are given funding from central government and the devolved nations – the told us they are reviewing support for foster carers.

Felicity Hannah, is joined by Sarah Thomas, Chief Executive of The Fostering Network and Brenda Farrell, Head of Fostering at Barnardo's.

Before you have children, it’s important to think about the finances. And that’s just as true for anyone considering becoming a foster carer. So, what are the allowances, fees, rewards and tax implications for those who welcome and care for a child in their home?

Felicity Hannah talks to foster carers Bryony, Walt, Dot, Phil and Jane about why they foster and their experience of the finances of fostering.

They are joined by an expert panel: Vicki Swain, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the charity The Fostering Network, Harvey Gallagher, Chief Executive of the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers, and Suzanne Griffiths, the director of Foster Wales, which is the national network of 22 Welsh Local Authority fostering services.

For more information about fostering, including the finances of looking after children, you can access the following: https://fosterwales.gov.wales/ https://www.nafp.org.uk/ https://www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/ And you can listen to an earlier edition of Money Box Live about Carer Leaver finances here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00139km

Baroness Casey, Louise Casey, continues her series looking at the challenges facing whoever wins the next general election.

In this third episode Louise asks how we can do better for children in care. Reaching back to 2007, she hears how one tragic case and the political and media response to it produced unexpected results throughout the system. She asks what prevents governments taking a comprehensive approach to the problem. And as she speaks to care experienced people and hears how they saw Scotland's independent care review as a step forward, she examines what is preventing progress on implementing it.

Conversation & discussion on contemporary Adoption & Fostering hosted by Al Coates and Scott Casson-Rennie

Adoption and fostering chat with people who’ve done it, from the UK’s LGBTQ+ adoption and fostering charity, New Family Social.