Fees and allowances paid to foster carers in Rotherham are set to be increased.
The Council’s Cabinet is to consider a proposal to boost payments in a bid to attract more people to the role and retain more foster carers, at its meeting on 17 October.
There are currently 542 children in care in Rotherham, with the majority living in family-based settings. However, due to a shortage of in-house foster carers, more children are placed with foster families via an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) which are more expensive and more likely to be at a greater distance from their friends, schools and communities.
Rotherham Council's Children's Services was recently rated as Good by Ofsted. One of the key priorities for the Council is to recruit, retain and grow the best in-house foster carers locally. This links to the Council Plan theme, every child able to fulfil their potential.
If approved, the proposal would see an increase in a range of the fees and allowances paid to Rotherham Council foster carers, including:
- enhanced payments for people caring for children with complex needs
- payments based on the skills of carers to be increased to 100% for those caring for more than two children (currently payments are 50% for 3rd and subsequent placements)
- increased mileage allowance
- increased payments for day care costs
Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Rotherham Council, said: “Increasing fees and allowances demonstrates the great value that we place on our foster carers. We are fortunate to have many exceptional foster carers in Rotherham but we need to both recruit more and keep hold of those already caring for our children.
“Our foster carers come from lots of different backgrounds, As well as financial support, the Council offers a wide range of additional training and round-the-clock help. We need more people who want to help local children when they need it the most to come forward – I’d urge you to find out more at fosteringrotherham.com and arrange an informal chat.”
Find out more about the benefits of fostering with Rotherham Council at www.fosteringrotherham.com
As well as the proposal to increase fees and allowances for foster carers, the Council’s Cabinet is also set to approve plans to further increase the capacity of children’s residential care places in Rotherham.
The plans will address the increased need for in-house children’s residential care places in Rotherham to meet increasing demand, which will allow the Council to place looked-after children closer to family, friends and local schools which is better for their wellbeing, as well as being less costly than placements outside the area.
The Council has successfully opened three children’s residential homes since February 2020, with capacity for up to eight children in total. All the homes opened so far have been rated as Good by Ofsted.
Work is already in progress to create an additional five small family-based homes with the Cabinet considering proposals to create a further two homes, subject to a DfE funding bid.
More information about job opportunities working with children in residential care in Rotherham is available from our website.
