Scottish foster carers are out of pocket and feel neglected, report warns

As part of its annual survey, the UK-wide Fostering Network surveyed 500 Scottish Foster Carers – the first time it has looked at their views separately.

It found six out of 10 foster carers say allowances ¬¬– which are meant to cover the expenses involved in caring for a child such as clothes, food and activities – often fail to cover the actual costs, leaving many out of pocket.

Meanwhile whether or not they receive an additional fee for their work varies across local authorities leaving them facing a postcode lottery. But only 14 per cent are paid the equivalent of the national living wage for a 40 hour week, let alone the actual hours involved.

The Network says little progress has been made in the last two years, despite commitments to address concerns, amid a crisis of recruitment in foster care. Scottish Government guidance for foster carers on what decisions they can make about the children in their care has still not been published and neither has a review of learning and development standards.

This leaves many feeling unable to make day-to-day decisions about the children in their care. More than a third say they are not treated as an equal and valued member of the team by their fostered child’s social workers.

Sara Lurie, director of the Fostering Network in Scotland said some people might think foster carers should not receive allowances to cover the cost of looking after a child – those who adopt do not.

She said it was different for foster carers who are often taking traumatised and neglected children in emergency circumstances. “Children will often arrive without so much as a matchbox car to their name, with nothing but the clothes they stand up in,” she said. “Some have never had toys or books and play with the foster carers kids like they have never had the chance to play before.

“Foster carers are looking after someone else’s children. and we thought the Government had agreed to introduce minimum allowances. Two years later nothing has changed.”

The Fostering Network is also warning that ministers should not wait for the findings of Scotland’s independent Care Review before addressing the problems.

A spokesman said the Care Review was welcome, but that issues such as minimum allowances, and guidance for foster carers could not wait until it reports in the Spring of next year. “We are particularly concerned that the Care review has inadvertently resulted in the progress stalling in areas where the need for change has already been clearly identified and did not require further review,” he said.

Frustration among foster carers is exacerbated when they are told they can’t make decisions about children in their care – such as whether to go on holiday or whether they go for sleepovers with their friends.

A third of all Scottish carers surveyed said it was not clear what day to day decisions they had the authority to make. But when trying to find out, barely half (54 per cent) said their social worker responded to their request promptly.

Some fostered children have significant mental health issues, often resulting from abuse or neglect. Half of all Scottish respondents said they had looked after a child who had caused violence in their home, self-harmed, run away or been involved with the police.

But 45 per cent of carers who are supporting a child with mental health needs say they have not been able to access specialist support. And while the proportion say they have an agreed training plan in place has risen from 36 to 54 per cent, this still lags behind foster carers in the rest of the UK.

Ms Lurie said the Government should pay more attention to “who looks after the carers?”.

“If we want foster carers to nurture the children they care for and for genuinely positive lifelong relationships to develop, then we must ensure that foster carers themselves are properly treated and supported” she added.