Lewisham needs New Foster Carers!
Are You Interested in Fostering in Lewisham?
Fostering is a way of providing a stable family life for vulnerable children and young people, who are unable to live with their parents at a certain point in time.
For any young person, entering the foster care system is a traumatic experience. Being taken away from the place they once felt safe in, to go to a new home, surrounded by strangers in unfamiliar territory, is a frightening thing to go through. Foster carers balance this blow by providing a safe, loving environment for these vulnerable children. With their care and support, these children adapt and thrive.
Could you help make a real difference for the vulnerable children in your society? Because of the increasing number of children entering care, we’re urgently looking for new foster carers in the Lewisham area.
There are currently just 128 fostering households within the local authority. That’s nowhere near enough to provide the standard of care each child needs. Without new foster carers, these children are likely to be placed in residential homes or forced to leave their school and friends to move hundreds of miles away.
If you become a foster carer in Lewisham the difference you could make for these children is remarkable. We know these children can go on to achieve great things when they are shown love, empathy, and understanding. The dedication and support you could provide as a foster carer could make all the difference.
Fostering as a Full-Time Profession
The work that foster carers do within society really does have an important impact. That’s why fostering has gradually transitioned away from being a purely voluntary endeavour to a fully paid profession. It can now be considered a realistic alternative to other forms of full-time employment.
All foster carers receive an allowance to cover the costs of raising the children in their care and most also receive a fee on top of this. According to a recent Freedom of Information request, Lewisham Borough Council currently pays their carers a core allowance as follows:
£144 a week for children aged 0–2
£147 a week for children aged 3–4
£165 a week for children aged 5–10
£187 a week for children aged 11–15
£219 a week for children aged 16–17
On top of that, their carers also receive a fee, or Standard Fostering Supplement, as follows:
£187 a week for children aged 0–2
£183.67 a week for children aged 3–4
£183.96 a week for children aged 5–10
£218.23 a week for children aged 11–15
£279.06 a week for children aged 16–17
Foster carers looking after young people aged over 18, as part of a Staying Put arrangement, also earn a flat weekly fee of £300.
So, if you look after a 6-year-old child for Lewisham Borough Council you’re likely to earn £348.96 a week. However, foster carers who work for an Independent Fostering Agency often receive much more than this, with most carers receiving on average £450 per week for every child in their care. But because this fee isn’t regulated it can vary hugely depending on the agency you foster with.
If you apply through Simply Fostering, we guarantee to pair you with the agencies offering the best fees in your area, who pay up to £600.00 per week per child. We understand that deciding who to foster with can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. That’s why we set up Simply Fostering, a free online support service for anyone interested in becoming a foster carer.
Check out the .Gov.UK site about claiming Benefits while fostering.
Our recruitment team are always on hand to answer any questions you might have and help take the hassle out of choosing the right agency for you. So whether you’ve been considering fostering for some time, or if you’d just like to learn more about how much you could be paid as a foster carer in Lewisham, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by completing an online enquiry form.
Help to foster in Lewisham
Using our knowledge of agencies in Lewisham, a social worker will:
- Carefully check your situation;
- Identify the fostering agencies on our Database, that are recruiting foster carers in your Borough;
- Match your details with the agencies with vacancies, then forward your details to those fostering agencies;
- Request that the most suitable fostering agencies contact you within three working days.
Save yourself time and frustration and give yourself the best possible start on your foster carer journey by completing our eligibility form and using our free agency matching service.