Foster care workers are under immense pressure

Network in 2018 found in Glasgow the allowances range from £137 per week for a child aged 0-4 years to £236 per week for a 16-year-old

The IWGB said the UK Government’s continuing denial of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to foster care workers nationwide now stands to have devastating consequences for them, their families and the children in their care.

As things stand, any foster care worker who develops symptoms will, if the children in their care are relocated, lose all their income.

This is already the situation facing hundreds of respite foster care workers, whose shifts have all been cancelled.

“This will likely drive still more people out of the profession at a time when the foster care system is already facing a severe shortage of at least 8600 people,” the IWGB warned.

The allowance to foster parents is paid as a weekly amount to cover the needs of the child they are caring for – including clothing, food, travel, household bills and spending money.

The amount of money depends on the child’s age and needs.

There are different categories of foster carer – with short-term fostering giving parents or a child a break from each other.

Emergency fostering is when child gets placed at little notice.

Interim fostering sees the child plan to go back to live with their parents, but needing to spend some time in foster care.

Longer-term care comes when they look after a child for more than 24 months, with permanent fostering beyond that.

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