Allowances
We will pay you up to a maximum of £514.75 per week per child to cover the day-to-day expenses of caring for a child. This is dependent on your skills and experience as a foster carer and the age of child. We will provide you with detailed information about financial allowances when we visit you in your home.
We will also pay you a "start up" grant of up to £500 when you are approved as a foster carer. This is to cover the cost of preparing your home for a foster child. We pay you an additional sum of money for each child's birthday, Christmas and pay towards taking the children on holidays.
We realise that fostering is not all about the money - you can get so much out of the experience by being part of a child's journey towards a happier future.
Training
Prior to approval as a foster carer, we invite you to attend a preparation training course, which is normally run on 3 weekdays and a half-day Saturday workshop led by care leavers.
The topics covered in the preparation training course include:
- The role of the foster carer
- Why children are fostered
- The nature and impact of child abuse
- Identity and loss
- Working with birth family
- Understanding and managing behaviour
- Helping children to move on from foster homes
This course provides an introduction to what being a foster carer entails and provides an insight into the rewards and challenges of fostering. The course will help you decide whether fostering is right for you and your family, and whether you have the potential to be an effective foster carer.
At Merton, the training of foster carers has a high priority and we believe in comprehensive and continuous training programmes to keep our foster carers and staff up to date with the latest developments and therapeutic techniques, to ensure that our foster carers are able to deal with the unexpected and any challenging situations.
Once you are approved as a foster carer, there is a good quality training programme that you will be expected to take part in. If you are a couple, both of you will need to access appropriate training- you will be able to discuss this with your social worker.
Support
We believe that good support for foster carers achieves better outcomes for both children and carers. This is why we are in the privileged position to offer the Mockingbird Family Model to our foster carers in the near future.
Support from Merton Fostering currently includes:
- 24 hour support, 365 days a year
- Your own dedicated specialist social workers who have years of experience in fostering
- Frequent telephone contact from your own social worker
- Regular structured supervision and consultation at least once a month with your SSW, (supervising social worker).
- Support from your SSW at personal education plan (PEP) meetings and other professional meetings
At Merton we are committed to offering the highest possible level of quality support to all our foster carers.
We recognise that because of the nature of the role, foster carers will face demanding and challenging situations. Our aim is that with training and through high levels of support and good communication we can equip you with the skills to deal with the majority of situations, safe in the knowledge that support is readily accessible if you need it.
Take the next step
Freephone: 0800 073 0874
Telephone: 020 8545 4070
Email: fostering@merton.gov.uk