Bromley pays foster carers of 16 and 17-year-olds £557.27 a week, about £29,000 a year. The council wants more homes for teenagers; sessions from 27 October.

Bromley Council is asking more residents to foster teenagers. It says they are the children who wait longest for a family.

The appeal went out on Wednesday (council news release). It does not say how many carers the council needs. Its fostering pages do say what it pays, and teenagers bring the highest rates on its scale: £557.27 a week for a young person aged 16 or over, or about £29,000 a year (Bromley fostering allowance rates).

Why teenagers

“The children waiting the longest to be fostered are teenagers,” the council’s foster teenagers page says. It says people tend to picture a baby or a young child when they think of fostering. Without a family ready for them, it says, many teenagers “end up moving between placements, or into residential care”.

Councillor Jonathan Andrews, the executive councillor for children, education and families, said: “Teenagers have great potential, but they need people around them who believe in them and provide consistent support.”

“We need more residents to come forward and consider fostering a teenager,” he said.

The release profiles one teenage girl who is waiting for a foster family now. The council describes her as a keen reader of fantasy and crime novels who likes cooking from scratch and is interested in maths and business. What she needs most, it says, is “time, patience and consistency”.

What Bromley pays

Every payment has two parts: an allowance for the child’s costs and a professional fee for the carer. Both rise with the child’s age, and are paid fortnightly.

Age of child Child’s allowance Carer’s fee Weekly total
0 to 4 £201.00 £206.66 £407.66
5 to 10 £225.00 £206.66 £431.66
11 to 12 £257.00 £206.66 £463.66
13 to 15 £257.00 £258.27 £515.27
16 and over £299.00 £258.27 £557.27
Bar chart of Bromley's weekly foster care payments by the age of the child: £407.66 for ages 0 to 4, £431.66 for 5 to 10, £463.66 for 11 to 12, £515.27 for 13 to 15 and £557.27 for 16 and over
Chart by Bromley Online, from the council's fostering allowance rates
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On top of the weekly rate, the council’s rates page lists:

  • Three extra payments a year, for the child’s birthday, Christmas and the summer holidays. For a 13 to 15-year-old these are £257, £257 and £514. For a 16 or 17-year-old they are £299, £299 and £598.
  • An enhanced fee of £50 a week, by agreement with a manager.
  • Up to ten days’ extra fees a year if carers take the young person on holiday.
  • Savings for the child, taken at source: £5 a week for those aged 11 and over.

When a fostered young person turns 18, the council’s Staying Put scheme pays £376 a week if they stay on with their carers. Foster carers count as self-employed and can get tax relief, the page says.

The foster teenagers page also offers a £1,000 voucher to anyone who recommends a friend once that friend is approved. Carers who transfer to Bromley from another council or agency get the same.

Who can apply

The council’s who can foster page sets three basic tests. Applicants must:

  • be over 21
  • have a spare bedroom for a foster child
  • have no serious criminal convictions, including sexual or violent offences or cruelty to adults or children

You do not need to own your home, be married or have raised children yourself, the foster teenagers page says. Applicants agree to police and medical checks and to training. Their home must be smoke-free for the child, and within an hour of the borough for short-term fostering.

What it means for you

If you are thinking about it, the first step the council offers is an online information session on Microsoft Teams (fostering information events). The next four are:

  • Tuesday 27 October, 12.30pm to 2pm
  • Monday 9 November, 6pm to 7.30pm
  • Thursday 26 November, 12.30pm to 2pm
  • Tuesday 8 December, 6pm to 7.30pm

To book a place, contact the fostering team on 020 8461 7701 or at fostering@bromley.gov.uk. The team is based at the Civic Centre, Churchill Court, 2 Westmoreland Road, BR1 1AS.

Sources