Foster carers are paid to support children and young people. Although money isn't often the main motivation for people to foster, ensuring you have the financial stability to support children in care and your family is important.

How foster carers are paid

The money foster carers receive from Herefordshire Council is split into fees and allowances.

Both elements of pay are only provided when foster carers are supporting a child or young person, unless a retainer has been agreed. These are both paid per child, so a foster carer supporting two children would receive two lots of fees and allowance payments.

Fees are in recognition of your skills and experience as a foster carer. Our foster carers can earn higher fees by progressing their careers. An experienced foster carer on our specialist scheme is paid £1,000 per week in fees.

Allowances relate to the children you support. When you have a child or young person in your home, you could be paid up to £271 per week, based on their age. You'll also get supplementary payments for birthdays, holidays, mileage, clothing and more.

All of our foster carers also receive two weeks of paid respite which can be used throughout the year to enable them to take breaks if needed.

Examples of what our foster carers are paid

As well as their fees and allowances, we also offer foster carers in Herefordshire a 100% Council Tax discount. This could save the average Herefordshire household over £2,000 per year.

If you were a level 2 foster carer, caring for a child aged 5 to 10, you would earn around £1,600 per month, or £20,000 per year.

A specialist foster carer supporting a child aged 11 to 15 could receive up to £5,000 per month, or around £60,000 per year.

Foster carers are classed as self-employed and may be exempt from paying tax on some of their fostering income. Further information can be found on The Fostering Network and GOV.UK.