Carer Allowance uplifts this Stress Awareness Week
ACS gave our foster parents one of the largest cost of living rises in our history back in April. But since April, there has been even more economic uncertainly. As a result we for the very first time we are increasing our fostering allowance for a second time in a year.
What ACS is doing to help our foster families combat financial stress.
We are all acutely aware of stress, the last few years have meant that no one has been immune to the impacts of stress from Covid-19 measures and long periods of lock down, worry about our health and that of loved ones. As we’ve come out of this worrying time and learnt to live with Covid, this year we have all had stress and worry over our finances, from rising energy costs, food costs, rising inflation and rising mortgage rates.
We know how the stress we have all had to endure has implications for our mental health. When it comes to the welfare of our fostering families we want to do everything we can to ensure our families can face rising costs whilst maintaining their exception care of children.
As a result we gave our foster parents one of the largest cost of living rises in our history back in April. But since April, there has been even more economic uncertainly. As a result we for the very first time we are increasing our fostering allowance for a second time in a year and look to make a further increase in April 2023.
This means that our most common standard rate for a child over the age of 10 is now £413.49 per week, per child and for most foster parents, this is tax free.
This make the equivalent annual income in a salaried roll over £23,000 when caring for one child. Our foster parents can also work alongside fostering in certain flexible roles, so this ensures that the children and young people in their care receive the financial stability they need to thrive.
We can’t eliminate against all aspects of stress on our lives, but it is important to us that we protect our families from one of the biggest causes of stress nationally, our finances.