Ms Kate Duggan:

The allowance paid to foster carers is set by the Department. We were delighted last year that, for the first time since 2009, there was an increase in the fostering allowance. There was also an initial set-up allowance for new foster carers. There is now work being done to support any significant travel costs associated with foster carers perhaps bringing children or young people on access visits, for example. There is also access to an advanced allowance in scenarios where an individual child or young person in foster care has a particular need or needs to access a particular service. We welcome the Department of Social Protection’s decision this year to ensure that the back to school allowance is available for foster carers.

The final ask I know from the foster carers we speak to is on the whole issue of pensions, which is a difficult and challenging one. As we said, the foster care allowance is tax free. It is an allowance paid on behalf of the child who is in foster care. The Department of Social Protection is engaging with our parent Department to understand that ask or need.

In recent years, I have spoken to 500 or 600 foster carers. For almost all of those foster carers, while of course they want recognition of the increased cost of child care and for looking after and providing for a child, what they want most is access to services for the children in their care. They want children in care to be prioritised for access to clinical and therapeutic services and have an allocated, consistent social worker who does not change because of recruitment or retention challenges. From our perspective, it is around advocating for the prioritisation of children in care for access to services. It is around looking at developing our own therapeutic services of helping and forming care planning. It is about ensuring we are better at communicating, engaging and supporting.

I know this committee will have heard from one of our peer support workers yesterday about a new initiative that came out of our reform programme last year. Foster carers who have been through it and understand the highs, lows and great benefits of fostering act as a voice and an ear for foster carers to listen to. That has certainly proven to be a significant support to foster carers.