Payment & benefits

Foster Carer Pay

For almost all Foster Carers, pay is tax-free and will not affect any benefits you may currently be receiving.

  • Standard allowance for one child up to £495.46 – please note that this amount depends on the child’s age and whether you are also caring for their siblings.
  • Parent and child – £926.49 per week (one parent, one child)

Payments are adjusted to meet their needs if a child is recognised as having additional requirements.

Additionally, you will receive:

  • Paid breaks: Benefit from 14 days of paid break annually.
  • Refer a friend payment: Earn £2,000 for recruiting new carers (£1,000 for Respite Carers).
  • Birthday Allowance: £200 per child will be paid to you to support in celebrating their birthday.
  • Festival Allowance: £200 per child per year to support with celebrating festivals such as Christmas.
  • Generous Mileage Allowances.

Other benefits include:

  • Foster Carer Training and Support
  • Support for Children
  • Support for Birth Children
  • Extended Support for Care Leavers
  • Many businesses will offer discounts for Foster Carers, including the Blue Light Card, which provides discounts at various high street and out-of-town retailers and leisure venues.

Safehouses is an independent provider, but we are also proud to be part of the Five Rivers Child Care family – a social enterprise committed to transforming the lives of children and young people. This partnership enables us to offer our foster carers access to a range of expertise and services that many smaller providers don’t have access to.

This might be in the form of additional therapeutic support for the children, specialist training for the foster carers or opportunities for children and young people to join in with special national events with other care experienced children.

foster child holds hands with foster mum

Could you provide a safe, loving home to a child?

Start your fostering career today, get in touch with us to find out how. We would love to hear from you.

Enquire online