Who qualifies for respite foster care pay?

Eligibility for respite foster care pay depends on your status as an approved foster carer and the terms of the placement. An enquiry or application on its own does not create an entitlement to payment. You normally need to hold current approval with a fostering service and provide care under an agreed fostering arrangement.

Respite payments may be available to several types of approved carer, including:

• foster carers who provide planned short breaks for children placed with another foster family;
• carers approved specifically for respite placements; and
• existing foster carers who accept an additional respite placement within the terms of their approval.

Your approval will set out important boundaries, such as the age range and number of children you can care for, the types of needs you are assessed to support and whether you can offer respite care. A placement should match those terms. If a proposed arrangement falls outside your approval, the fostering service may need to review it before care begins.

To become eligible, you must meet the fostering service’s assessment requirements. These commonly include checks on your health, household circumstances, accommodation, references, safeguarding suitability and ability to work with children and professionals. Adults in the household may also need to complete relevant checks. The service will consider whether your home and circumstances are suitable for short-term care, rather than assessing respite pay separately from your overall suitability to foster.

Applicants also complete preparation training and take part in an assessment before a decision is made about approval. The process is intended to establish whether you can provide consistent, safe care and manage the particular demands of a short placement, including handovers, routines, contact arrangements and information sharing with the child’s main foster carers.

Payment generally becomes relevant once approval has been granted and a respite placement has been formally arranged. The amount and structure can vary between fostering services. Some arrangements distinguish between the fostering allowance, which contributes towards the child’s costs, and a professional fee for the carer. Others use a combined payment structure. Your written terms should explain which elements apply and when they are due.

You may not qualify for respite foster care pay if you are:

• still waiting for approval;
• providing informal childcare without a fostering placement;
• caring for a child outside the terms of your approval without the necessary agreement; or
• no longer approved by the relevant fostering service.

Special arrangements can apply to connected-persons placements, emergency arrangements or care organised by a different authority or agency. This is why the payment position should be confirmed with the service responsible for the placement, rather than assumed from another fostering arrangement.

Before accepting respite care, ask for clear written information about the placement dates, the child’s needs, the payment rate, any separate expenses, how payment is recorded and what happens if the arrangement changes. You should also check whether the placement counts as respite under your approval and whether any additional training or support is required.

For carers in the West Midlands, Become A Foster Family can explain how approval and respite arrangements work through its teams across Birmingham, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Dudley, Sandwell, Herefordshire, Telford, Wolverhampton, Shropshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, Stoke, Solihull, Coventry and Gloucestershire. The organisation has offices in Droitwich and Stoke, with staff located across the region.