Financial support for fostering

Depending on your experience and the age of the child or young person, you can receive a weekly allowance for each child. This will cover the costs of caring for them and it also includes a fee for you.

Foster carers do not pay tax on their income from fostering up to a maximum of £10,000 plus allowances for the care of the child.

If you make National Insurance contributions, you are entitled to National Insurance credits. This means that you will not lose out on the basic State Pension if you have stayed at home to look after a child.

Other types of support

Becoming a foster carer is exciting but challenging, so the Royal Borough of Greenwich has a good support system in place.

You will receive training and you will be allocated your own supervising social worker who will support you in your fostering role.

Our support system includes:

  • continuous back-up from a supervising social worker
  • a wide-ranging ongoing training programme
  • the Royal Borough of Greenwich's handbook for foster carers
  • support groups
  • Training Support and Development Standards (TSDS) accreditation is available to all foster carers
  • membership to Greenwich Foster Carers Association.