support and rewards

As a Foster Wales Monmouthshire carer, you will receive a generous allowance to support you in the care of the child placed with you.

Our allowances and rewards are based upon a variety of factors such as how many children you foster, their ages and the type of fostering you offer.

In addition to your fostering allowance, all our carers receive a ‘skills’ payment reflecting their training and experience when caring for a child.

For example, foster carers looking after two children ages 3 and 5 would receive a minimum of £585.00 per week (£30,420 a year).

A foster carer looking after a 16-year-old on level 3 skills would receive a minimum of £324.00 per week (£16848.00 per year)

A MyST carer looking after a 16-year-old would get a minimum of £702.57 per week (£36,533.64 per year)

On top of your fostering allowances, you will also receive;

• A ‘MAX’ card, the UK’s leading discount card for children looked after, gaining free or discounted admission to venues such as ‘Lasertag’, museums and castles.
• Blue Light Card provides you with an incredible range of discounts on grocery shopping, retail outlets of all types and food venues.
• School lunches are funded for all Monmouthshire’s children who are looked after who are in full time school. An additional payment is paid during school holidays, providing an extra £260 per year.
• All our foster carers receive automatic membership of The Fostering Network, an independent advice and support service to foster carers.
• Other events and activities are regularly provided free of charge or at a discounted rate for your whole fostering family. Our monthly newsletter will keep you up to date about what these are and how to access them.
• Financial incentives to foster carers who recommends an individual who subsequently is assessed as a foster carer for Monmouthshire.
• Free swimming for foster carers, their children and looked after child/children at all Monmouthshire Leisure Centres.

• Your own dedicated social worker who will support you and work with you.
• Regular foster carer support groups, to enable you to meet and keep in touch with other foster carers and provide you with information/updates relevant to your fostering role.
• Foster Carers for Foster Carers (FC4FC) is an independent group set up by and for Foster Wales Monmouthshire foster carers. This provides an independent support system for foster carers, FC4FC arrange regular meet ups, activities, Christmas parties and other events.
• Individual mentoring from experienced fostering carers affiliated to the Pioneer Programme.
• Access to peer support for male foster carers Men who Care.

BASE (Building Attachments Security and Emotional well-being)

• All Foster Wales Monmouthshire foster carers and kinship carers have access to our in-house therapeutic and psychology service, BASE.

  The BASE team is made up of clinical psychologists and play therapists who work with foster carers, children and young people to support carers and improve outcomes for children and young people in care.

  BASE offers direct therapeutic work with children and young people and support, advice and assistance, to foster carers and social workers, as well as training and workshops.

MyST (My Support Team)

• MyST provides intensive support to foster carers who are caring for children and young people with the most challenging and complex needs.

  These children would otherwise be in residential children’s homes often far away from their communities and people who are important to them.

  As a MyST carer you have access to 24 hour/ 7 day a week support, enhanced payments, bespoke training and individualised packages of support according to your needs. Find our more here.

As an approved foster carer within Monmouthshire County Council you will become part of a team with a shared mission to provide a nurturing environment in which the child in your care can thrive and flourish. As the child’s foster carer you are at the heart of this mission.

As part of our team, you will be alongside other dedicated people; social workers, support workers, foster carers, psychologists and therapists. We are all dedicated and committed to keeping Monmouthshire children in their local area with foster carers who care for them as well as about them, where they will thrive.

Becoming an approved foster carer is just the start of your development. We offer a wide range of training and learning opportunities to support your learning and understanding of the children you care for, equipping you with the skills and knowledge to enable children in your care to thrive.

As a Foster Wales Monmouthshire carer, you will have your own Foster Wales Learning and Development Plan which is individual to your needs and takes into account of all the experience and learning you bring with you. You will have access to an extensive range of training opportunities, e-learning, podcasts and workshops.

We also offer a number of social support networks in Monmouthshire. You can meet and share your unique experiences with other foster carers and begin new, powerful friendships with people in the local community.

On top of this, there is a wealth of advice and information online that you can access at any time as a Foster Wales foster carer.

Foster Wales pays for membership to The Association for Fostering and Adoption (AFA) and The Fostering Network (TFN). These are specialist fostering organisations that offer private advice, guidance, support and many more rewards.