How we support our carers

Support and benefits

We’re proud to offer a wide range of support to our carers to help them in the fostering process. We understand that fostering a child can be demanding and we want to make sure that carers feel valued and supported in their role.

Wandsworth Council offers a range of additional benefits and support:

  1. An allocated supervising social worker, who will visit on a regular basis to offer advice and support to you and your family. You will also be able to reach out to your social worker for immediate support if needed, plus an out of hours social worker support service
  2. Additional help from our therapeutic, education and dynamic children and youth support services when you are looking after children who have specific needs. This may involve supporting you in caring for the child, including or working directly with the child.
  3. Annual social events for foster carers to celebrate their successes together, including our annual foster carer award ceremony
  4. A comprehensive training programme that offers a wide range of face to face and on-line courses to support you in developing your own knowledge and skills as a foster carer
  5. Bespoke support groups to allow you to share your experiences with other foster carers who care for similar groups or ages of children.
  6. Bi-monthly Fostering Forums where we present workshop and keep you informed of developments in the service and is another opportunity to meet with other carers.
  7. Competitive fees and allowances and other financial support such as additional allowances for holidays, birthdays and festive celebrations for the child.
  8. Loyalty bonus payments in recognition of long service
  9. Out of Hours social work support and access to the Emergency Duty team
  10. Access to Fosterline, run by the Fostering Network. Open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, this provides information and advice for foster carers and people thinking about becoming foster carers.

Fees and allowances

Our competitive fees and allowances ensure that you are financially supported when fostering a child of any age. You will also receive further benefits and practical support to help you in your caring role. Please refer to the table below for our current fees and allowances.

Weekly payment
Payments Child aged 0 to 10 Child aged 11-18
Weekly fee  £173.40  £204
Weekly allowance  £200.70  £261.10
Standard weekly total  £374.10  £465.10
Enhancement  n/a  £200
Weekly total  £374.10  £665.10

Other financial support

We also offer:

  • Additional allowances for holidays, birthdays and festive celebrations
  • Additional payment and benefits, based on the needs of individual children
  • Time-limited retention payments if you are not allocated a child
  • A £1,000 referral fee if you recommend friends and family members who go on to become foster carers
  • Bonuses in recognition of long service

In the UK, you will also benefit from extra tax benefits.