Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
How Are Children in Foster Care Matched with Carers?
Foster Care Budgeting Tips
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
8 reasons why a child may be taken into care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
Can you foster if you smoke or vape?
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
What can disqualify you from foster care?
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
How do DBS Checks Work?
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies and Young Children
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
What is an EHC Plan? A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
Fostering LGBTQ+ Youth
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
What are the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services?
10 tips for foster children's education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother's Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children's bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Father's Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
FosterTalk Membership with Capstone Foster Care
Supporting foster children's contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Movies About Foster Care
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
A Guide to the Staying Put Program
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
One of the most common questions we receive from prospective foster carers is, "can I work and foster?". The answer varies from placement to placement. Some types of foster care can accommodate carers with full-time careers, whilst other long-term foster placements require more of your time.
Throughout this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about fostering and working full-time. Whether you’re a single foster carer or a fostering family, our team at Capstone Foster Care is here to help you begin your fostering journey.
If your fostering arrangement is for a set period of time, it is possible to foster whilst working full-time and still fulfil your foster care responsibilities. For instance, if you provide short term fostering placements (i.e. respite foster care), you will know in advance when your fostering services are required, allowing you to adjust your schedule accordingly.
However, in most cases, there is no prearranged timeline to determine the duration of a foster placement. Therefore, it can be more challenging to maintain a job outside of the household, as fostering is considered a full-time career in itself. With that said, each foster placement is unique, so don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your individual circumstances.
If you are a foster couple, you will have greater flexibility over your careers than you would as a single foster parent. Whilst a single foster carer must always be available to tend to their foster child’s needs, as a couple, you can work together to distribute your time between fostering and working. For example, one parent may choose to stay at home whilst the other continues to work full-time.
However, whilst fostering as a couple can make maintaining a second career more realistic, it’s also worth noting that fostering itself is a full-time job. Therefore, it may be worth evaluating both of your commitments to fostering and assessing how best to approach work.
For a single man or woman, fostering and working full time may become more of a challenge. You see, not only are single foster parents responsible for providing a safe and loving home, but they must also be available for meetings with foster agency social workers, teachers, and other personnel involved in protecting and maintaining the child’s wellbeing.
With that said, it is possible for single foster parents to work during school hours, depending on the age of their foster children. However, flexibility is essential. So it’s important that you’re prepared to commit to fostering as a full time career.
Unlike most salaried roles, foster carers are eligible for a generous tax scheme called Qualifying Care Relief. As a result, foster carers pay little to no tax for their fostering placements.
To find out more regarding fostering allowance and tax rules, read our guide ‘How much do Foster Parents get Paid?’
If you have had financial problems in the past, it shouldn’t affect your eligibility to foster. However, you will need to prove that you are now financially secure enough to provide for a fostering family.
Yes, fostering is a full time career. When you become a foster carer, your first responsibility is to the child in care, which is a 24/7 job. However, you may not always have a foster placement. So, it’s important to understand that whilst fostering is first and foremost a vocation, from a financial perspective, payments are reliant on placements, and placements are subject to demand and suitability.
So, whilst in some cases, people can comfortably foster and work, many choose not to, as they don’t want to be distracted by another job. After all, a foster carer’s priority should always be to provide stability and security for children in their care - not how much they can earn as a carer.
Our fostering allowance ensures that both you and your foster child are able to live comfortably. The allowance accounts for:
• Each child’s unique set of needs
• A good standard of living for both foster family and child
• A tax-free allowance
The fostering allowance does not impact other benefits such as housing benefit or working tax credits either.
Part of your assessment will evaluate your ability to provide training and support for a foster child. Families may see a difference between the needs of their own children and the needs of their foster child. So, it’s essential that our carers partake in training and development courses to provide the best support for their foster child.
At Capstone, we offer additional training beyond our essential ‘Skills to Foster’ course, to ensure our carers always feel equipped with the necessary skills to support their foster children.
Looking for more information on fostering and working full time? Contact Capstone Foster Care today or call us on 0800 012 4004 – we’re here to help answer all of your fostering and working queries.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
