What's included in the cost

To make an initial placement request, please ensure the Principle Outline Funding Agreement has been signed by the budget holder.

Once the placement has been perfectly matched with a suitable and skilled carer, a holding fee of 50% will be charged until confirmation and agreement has been achieved. Introductory and preparatory work will then commence from the date of placement offer. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a placement until the above condition has been satisfied.

All NEWFOCAS carers are consummate professionals who dedicate their time and energy to caring for vulnerable children and young people. And the level of care and professionalism represents outstanding value for money. Furthermore, our services are intensive and commensurate with those provided by many residential therapeutic settings, and include:

• Own bedroom
• An individually styled placement plan for each child / young person
• Implementation of the Care Plan, Health Record and PEP provided by the service purchaser
• Weekly reports to the local authority social worker based on carer's daily reports
• Written progress reports and assessments by the carer and / or service provider on individual children, and planning and review meetings
• Court or other formal reports as requested
• 24-hour supervised care and board as specified in the Providers Statement of Purpose (i.e. the allowances paid to the foster carer(s) by the service provider)
• Clothing allowance including sports and leisure clothing for general activities (except initial clothing / special clothing / tools)
• Food, including lunch at school and special dietary needs
• Cultural, ethical, religious, and spiritual beliefs / needs
• Pocket money, birthday and festival allowance, and holiday allowance
• Telephone calls by landline within the UK to family members and Social Services
• Telephone calls to others specified in the care plan (as detailed in the IPA)
• Toiletries, hair, and skin care products
• General day-to-day travel, and recreational outings
• School public transport costs (within 5 mile radius of foster home), and school outings / visits up to two days.
• Limited alternative to education programmes for excluded children, in addition to any local authority home tuition
• Facilitating attendance at local advocacy forums
• A welcome for birth family members (unless contra-indicated) including planned overnight stays for identified siblings
• Supervised contact and supervised home visits as specified and agreed in the Care Plan
• Support in attending local health care appointments, educational appointments and statutory reviews
• All administrative work
• Any other service described in the Service Specification
• Four hours of weekly respite for the carer as a right' via the in-house sessional carer or respite carer services
• Recruitment, selection, preparation, and ongoing training for Foster Carers
• Training to reach NVQ 3 for all Foster Carers
• Weekly carer supervision and weekly carer support meetings
• Arrangement of individual counselling or therapeutic input for the placements and carers at a frequency to meet specific needs
• Foster carer approval and review
• Foster carer insurance and membership to the Fostering Network
• Allowances paid to the foster carer for purchase / reasonable replacement of equipment and furnishings