Charity urges increase in allowance for foster parents

Foster parents are struggling to afford to look after the children in their care as their allowance has not kept pace with soaring prices, a charity has warned.

The Fostering Network has urged the Scottish Government to increase the allowance as many foster parents are having to spend their own money to care for the children.

Mervyn Erskine, the charity’s chairman, said action must be taken to “make sure that children in foster care and the families that support them don’t go without”.

He added: “Increasing the foster care allowance is vital to enable children to thrive, but also needed to counter the retention and recruitment crisis the fostering sector was already battling with prior to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Currently, governments are failing the very children they are legally responsible for, as well as the foster carers who look after them.”

As part of its UK-wide campaign, the charity said research into how much it costs to raise a child found for those under four it costs £215 per week, between five and 10 it is some £258, and it costs £324 a week to raise a child in foster care aged over 11.

The charity said foster parents take on additional costs, with some children arriving with no possessions of their own, while bedrooms may need to be decorated prior to the arrival of a child.

Foster carers also have to meet additional requirements, like higher insurance costs and annual boiler servicing, as well as often taking the children to family appointments several times a week and making sure they do not lose touch with friends.

Unlike other parts of the UK, Scotland does not have a national minimum allowance for foster parents, and the Fostering Network has called on the Scottish Government to introduce one.

Mr Erskine said: “Many of the children coming into care will have experienced extremely traumatic starts in life and foster carers help them overcome this trauma and enable them to flourish.

“To be able to do their best for our young people, foster carers must be supported – and that means ensuring they have enough money to provide for the children in their care, who they look after on behalf of the state.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We value the commitment that foster and kinship carers make to providing loving and caring homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people.

“We would like to assure our caregivers that we are committed to introducing a Scottish recommended allowance and we are in discussions with Cosla to progress this as soon as possible.”