Sponsored Editorial

Since the launch of the new, competitive fees and allowances structure in September 2021, Medway Council Fostering has seen a lot of interest.

Money should never be the driving force to fostering. Therefore, it is important to consider fostering for the right reasons, but they also recognise that income is often an important consideration for many families thinking about fostering.

After all, people need to know they can maintain financial stability whilst fostering, and continue to support their own family too.

Medway Council Fostering acknowledges the ever-changing financial climate, growing pressures on families and individuals, wider concerns when it comes to considering fostering and that asking questions about money, especially when it involves children can be uncomfortable.

This is why they believe the more information you have, the better, so they aim to provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision.

Allowances, fees and other payments are provided to foster carers together with guidance on the application.

Payments to carers are made up of two elements:

1. a weekly maintenance allowance for each child in their care, and,
2. a weekly professional fee in the form of a non-taxable allowance.

With the high inflation rates contributing to the cost of living crisis, Medway Council Fostering aims to offer a considerable support package to help foster carers manage the rising costs whilst they continue to offer stability to foster children.

Therefore, the foster care payments received contributions towards everything a child in your care could need like, for example, their living costs including food, clothing, basic travel, toiletries, Christmas and birthday presents, and days out.

How much you get in foster care payments usually depends on the type of placement you have.

The new allowances, rewards, concessions and support offerings will allow foster carers to provide a stable environment for those children and young people which meets their needs.

It also makes it possible for you to open up your home and allow the child to benefit from an opportunity that might not otherwise be available. This means that fostering is a financially viable option for people across Medway, bringing them competitively in line with fees paid by neighbouring local authorities and independent fostering agencies.

Medway Council Fostering are keen to recruit foster carers whose primary reason for becoming a foster carer is because there is a wanting to change a child’s life through positive parent-child interactions.

Medway Council Fostering’s foster carers see fostering as a rewarding role which allows them to help young people develop and grow, could this be you?

For more information, visit www.medway.gov.uk/fostering, email fcrecruitment@medway.gov.uk or telephone 01634 335726