Fostering with us is a rewarding and challenging experience, giving you a sense of purpose as you help change lives.
Working with us
We are a 100% not for profit organisation, committed to keeping children and young people in local care, near to their birth families, friends and schools.
We provide our foster carers with continuous support and some great benefits, including:
We’ll provide you with opportunities to access training to develop your skills in supporting children and young people through difficult times. You can:
- attend courses with all travel expenses paid
- complete online training
All training opportunities will work around your childcare commitments.
Financial support is made up of two parts, a weekly allowance based on the age of the child and a weekly fee based on your skill level. Your skill level will be discussed with you at the home visit stage and ranges from level 1 to level 4 (with level 4 being the highest).
The fee based on your skills level means you can receive extra weekly payments up to a maximum of £224 per child.
The basic weekly allowance and fee for 2022/23 per child is:
Childs age
|
Allowance
|
0-4 years
|
£152.86
|
5-10 years
|
£174.12
|
11-15 years
|
£216.76
|
16 years plus
|
£263.69
|
| |
Carer's level
|
Fee
|
Level 1
|
No fee
|
| Level 2 |
£128.53 (up to two children, £128.53 for each additional child) |
| Level 3* |
£182.09 (up to two children, £182.09 for each additional child) |
| Level 4** |
£235.64 (up to two children, £235.64 for each additional child) |
* Must be able to care for children and young people with additional challenges/needs.
** Must be able to care for our most challenging/complex children and young people.
The allowances are examples and are updated annually.
Example
A level 3 foster carer caring for a 12 year old child would receive £398.85 per week. This would be made up of £216.76 allowance and £182.09 fee.
Additional financial information
Most foster carers do not pay tax on their fostering income due to the Qualifying Care Relief scheme.
Foster carers are self-employed and have to submit a tax return at the end of the financial year. An end of year income statement is provided by the council. This can be done through the
online Self Assessment tax return external link at no cost.
Foster carers qualify for Class 2 National Insurance Contributions at £2.95 per week. This provides access to state maternity benefits, a state retirement pension and state bereavement benefits.
Foster carers can apply for Class 3 National Insurance Credits at the end of the tax year. This counts towards state retirement pension only.
Foster Carers may qualify for Working Tax Credits (dependant on income).
Our teams provide local support groups for foster carers, including:
- your own fostering social worker
- membership to the
Leeds Foster Care Association external link
- membership to the Fostering Network
- foster carer support groups across the city
- the latest information on our work and the services we provide
- up to 14 days paid holiday entitlement
- the opportunity to join a Mockingbird Family Hub
We offer lots of different benefits, including:
- use of our luxury three bedroom holiday lodge for free, based at Rudding Park in Harrogate. This includes access to a heated swimming pool and on-site restaurant
- free luxury lodge holidays with the
The Principle Trust external link (applies to foster families caring for disabled children only)
- free tickets to the Leeds Direct Arena and local theatres (when available)
- free day trips to the seaside and theme parks in the school holidays
- free residential breaks at
Herd Farm
external link
- free activity days and courses at the
Leeds City Council Activity Centre external link
- free annual Bodyline membership for foster carers
- free annual junior Bodyline membership for children aged 8 to 18 years
- free junior swimming lessons
- discounts to local businesses
- additional home and contents insurance for our approved foster carers
- extra allowances for children's birthdays, Christmas (or another selected religious holiday) and summer school holidays
- free counselling services
Find out what our
foster carers have to say about working with us.
Who can foster
Anyone can register to become a foster carer.
Register your interest
After you have registered your interest, a member of the team will get in touch.
If you are already a foster carer and would like to transfer to work with Leeds City Council, call us on 0113 378 3538.
If you have a Leeds young person in placement, we will match your current provider payments if they are higher than our fees and allowances.
We welcome applications from any ethnic background, religion and sexuality, and it doesn't matter whether you are employed, unemployed, married, single or divorced. The most important thing is that you have time to give to a child.
Read about the different
types of fostering that we provide.
