Who decides how much kinship carers get paid?

The decision-maker depends on the legal arrangement under which the child is living with you. For kinship foster care, the responsible local authority or fostering service sets the allowance under its fostering payments policy. For a special guardianship order, financial support is considered by the local authority responsible under the relevant regulations and its own policy. A court grants the order but does not usually set the day-to-day allowance itself.

Approved kinship foster carers are paid under fostering arrangements. The fostering service will normally explain its allowance scheme during the assessment and approval process, including what the basic allowance is intended to cover and whether any separate fee or payment applies. If an independent fostering agency is involved, the agency’s agreement with the carer will set out how payments are calculated, while the placing local authority remains responsible for arranging and funding the placement.

The allowance is intended to contribute towards the costs of caring for the child. The amount may be affected by factors such as:

• the child’s age and developmental stage;
• the type of fostering placement;
• the child’s health, education or care needs;
• any agreed additional support or equipment;
• whether the payment includes only an allowance or also a separate fostering fee; and
• the payment rules in the relevant local authority or agency policy.

Kinship foster carers should receive clear information about the payments that apply to their placement. The fostering agreement and placement plan should distinguish between the regular allowance, any fee for the carer’s role and one-off payments or reimbursements. Items such as essential equipment, travel connected with the placement or costs arising from additional needs may be handled separately, but this depends on the written policy and prior agreement.

Special guardianship support is decided differently. A special guardian may be eligible for financial assistance under a support plan prepared by the local authority. The authority may consider the child’s needs, the guardian’s circumstances, the costs of caring for the child and other available resources. Financial support can be subject to an assessment of means, so it should not be assumed that the same payment will apply to every special guardian.

The timing of the assessment matters. Anyone considering a special guardianship order should ask for financial support to be assessed before the order is made, where possible. Once the order is in place, the local authority will apply its review and payment rules. Changes to the child’s needs or the family’s circumstances may lead to a review, but they do not automatically result in an increased payment.

If the child is living with family under another arrangement , such as an informal kinship arrangement or a child arrangements order, there may be no automatic kinship allowance. The financial help available will depend on the legal status of the placement and the family’s circumstances. This is separate from payments made to approved foster carers and should be checked with the child’s social worker or the local authority’s kinship care team.

The child’s social worker is usually the best starting point for identifying which authority or service is responsible for the decision. Ask for:

• the name of the payment policy that applies;
• the allowance or support assessment in writing;
• a breakdown showing what each payment is for;
• details of any additional-needs or exceptional-costs process;
• the date on which payments begin and how they are reviewed; and
• the process for challenging a decision or making a complaint.

It is important to obtain this information before agreeing to a placement or applying for a legal order. The family relationship itself does not determine the amount. The deciding factors are usually the child’s legal status, the authority or fostering service responsible for the arrangement, the child’s assessed needs and the policy that applies to that type of care.

Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Families in the West Midlands should therefore ask the relevant local authority or fostering service to confirm the policy for their specific arrangement rather than relying on an allowance quoted for another area or type of kinship care.