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Fostering With us

Can you provide a child with a safe, warm, caring, stable and loving home for as long as they need it?Every week about 20 children and young people need foster carers.
We give our approved carers

  • 24/7 support from dedicated local social workers
  • a generous financial allowance and extra allowances for birthdays and holidays
  • up-to-date and relevant training in line with the latest research and input from an experienced network of approved fosters carers
  • wellbeing activities and events, providing a support network and activities related to art, culture, sport, and self-care for our foster carers, children and fostering families

Why Transfer To Us

Foster care is a way of offering children and young people a home while their own family are unable to look after them. This can be for a variety of reasons, from temporary illness to issues such as abuse within their home or the death of a primary carer. Before deciding to go into the field of foster care, there are some aspects of fostering which you should take the time to familiarise yourself with.

Please contact Britannia Fostering Agency to discuss about foster care in Croydon.

Who Can Foster

Foster carers come from all backgrounds and bring a wide range of life and work experiences. They receive training and support to help them develop the skills to meet the needs of children in care.

There are some common criteria that most fostering services expect from you:

  • to be at least 21 years-old (although by law you can apply to foster from 18)
  • to have a spare bedroom big enough for a young person to live in
  • to be residing in the UK
  • to be able to give the time to care for a child or young person, often on a full-time basis.

It’s also important that you’re able to work as part of a team, be resilient and above all, have a strong commitment to changing the life of a child in care.

Fostering Allowance

You will be paid a weekly amount for each child that you care for and this varies depending upon the age and need of each child. This amount has two components, the allowance to care for the child’s needs e.g. food, clothing, leisure etc. and a fostering fee for you.

Being a Foster Carer is recognised by the HMRC as self-employment. This status comes with its own generous tax benefits that can really make a difference to Foster Carers. Most carers find that they pay little or no tax. You will find more information about fostering on HMRC website.

Payment is different for each placement depending on the child’s age and need and whether they’re part of a sibling group. The examples below will give you an idea of how this works and the typical amounts available.

The threshold for the Foster Carer Tax Scheme (which applies to the vast majority of carers) is £10.000.00 per year.

There is an additional amount of £200.00 per week for every child that you care for aged 0-10 years old and £250.00 per week for a child aged 11-18 years old.

Example: for illustrative purposes only and are based on a 52-week placement.

Ms X is a foster carer looking after three children aged 6yrs, 11yrs, and 14yrs for the entire tax year. Her qualifying amount is calculated by adding together the fixed amount of £10.000.00 plus a weekly amount of £200 plus £250 plus £250.00 respectively. This gives her a tax threshold of £49.000.00.

Assesment
Process

If you are invited to apply, you will receive an application form and other documents which you will need to complete, and which your Recruitment Worker will then collect from you. Submission of these documents begins the assessment process, entering you into Stage 1. This stage lasts 1-2 months and allows us to proceed with legally required background checks and references. These will include the likes of personal and employment references, a medical check, local authority and enhanced DBS checks, as well as obtaining some detailed information on your background and lifestyle so that we can assess your suitability to foster. During Stage 1 you will get chance to meet other foster carers who are also being assessed at the preparation training, and our team will be here to guide you and answer any questions you have.

Once this is complete, we will enter Stage 2 of your assessment, allocating you a Form F Assessor, the individual who will work with you to pull together your Form F. This document is used to highlight your skills and experience to ensure that we can match the right placements to you once you’re approved. Stage 2 usually takes up to 3 months to complete.

If you are interested in making a difference to a child’s life by becoming a foster carer, please contact us.