Funded entitlements for children in foster care

Children aged from 9 months to 4 years - Working Parent Entitlement

Working Parent Entitlement has been extended to include children in foster care, depending on foster carers circumstances.

Children from 9 months of age in eligible working families can receive up to 1,140 hours per year of funded childcare that can be used at one or more childcare provider. This is commonly offered as 30 hours a week term time over 38 weeks of the year (term-time), or fewer hours over more weeks of the year depending on your childcare provider.

Criteria for Working Parent Entitlement for children in foster care 

To access Working Parent Entitlement for a foster child, the following criteria must be met:

• Accessing the funded hours is consistent with the child’s care plan, placing the child at the centre of the process and decision making.

and

• In single parent foster families, the foster carer engages in paid work outside their role as a foster carer.

or

• In two parent foster families, both partners engage in paid work outside their role as a foster carers. If one partner is not a foster parent, then they must be in qualifying paid work and earn a minimum of the equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum/living wage.

The Childcare Service (HMRC) is unable to perform the additional eligibility checks required, therefore the application process for children in foster care is managed by Local Authorities.

The application must be completed by the foster parent and counter-signed by a designated person determined by the responsible local authority to confirm eligibility, this is the child’s social worker. Supporting evidence of employment must be provided at point of application, such as payslips. 

Key considerations 

Accessing 30 hours will not be appropriate for every child in foster care. The criteria is to enable those foster parents who are working outside of fostering responsibilities to access this support where it is right for the child.

There is not an expectation or requirement for foster parents to work outside of fostering unless they choose to do so, and this decision is supported by the fostering service.

There is no requirement on the type of work or number of hours that a foster parent must work in order to access the funded entitlement and there is no minimum earnings limit (although they must be engaging in paid work).

The child in foster care does not have to take up the full 30-hour entitlement.

Children in foster care will continue to qualify for the disadvantaged two-year-old entitlement and the universal entitlement for three and four-year-olds regardless of the working status of their foster parent/s.

If circumstances change and a child in foster care ceases to be eligible for the Working Parent Entitlement, the responsible local authority should assess the child’s needs for early years provision as part of the care plan.

Application deadlines apply, and funded childcare cannot begin until the funding period (1 September, 1 January, 1 April) following successful application:

If the child is already over the age of 9 months, the same principle applies that funded childcare cannot begin until the funding period (1 September, 1 January, 1 April) following successful application. 

How to apply 

You should apply to the local authority who is considered to be the child’s corporate parent. This means you would need to apply to Peterborough City Council if the child has a Peterborough City Council social worker (and is therefore considered a Peterborough foster child), even if the foster parent and foster child are living outside of the Peterborough local authority area.

Foster parent/s must complete the online application form, which must be counter-signed by the designated person (the child’s social worker) as agreement that accessing the funded hours is consistent with the child’s care plan, and confirmation that the foster parent/s is in employment.

Agreement that the foster parent/s can take up the funded hours should be recorded and the care plan for the child should be updated as appropriate. Foster parent/s will be required to submit a copy of a recent payslip or evidence of self-employment (such as a tax return) with their application to evidence that they are in work outside of fostering.

All queries and evidence to support applications should be emailed to 30hoursfree@peterborough.gov.uk.

The application outcome

Peterborough City Council will issue eligibility codes to eligible foster parents. This 11-digit code which should start with “400” will be sent to foster parents by email from 30hoursfree@peterborough.gov.uk; the designated person (child’s social worker) will also be notified.

Once the foster parent has received the code, they should take this code to an Ofsted registered childcare provider of their choice – either in Peterborough or cross border. The childcare provider will then follow their process for checking the code is valid, and a place can be offered.

Reconfirmation

Like all other parents accessing the Working Parent Entitlement, foster parents will be required to reconfirm eligibility every 3 months.

This must be carried out before the “validity end date” of the code. If they do not, they will enter a “grace period”, after which they will no longer receive the funded entitlement.

The local authority should be satisfied that the placement is still on-going, that accessing the entitlement is still consistent with the child’s care plan and the foster parent/s are still engaging in paid work outside of their foster care role.

The child’s social worker will be contacted and asked to declare that the foster parent/s and their circumstances remain the same, and they are happy for the funded place to continue. This will be initiated 4 weeks before the “validity end date” of the code.

Changes to the child’s circumstances

If the child moves to new foster carer/s, Working Parent Entitlement cannot be transferred to the new foster carer/s as it has been awarded based on the foster parent/s circumstances (i.e. employment outside of fostering responsibilities).

In these circumstances, if the child is not moving to a new childcare provider, Working Parent Entitlement would cease at the end of the grace period if eligibility cannot be confirmed with the new foster carer/s. If the child moves to a new childcare provider, funding would cease straight away. Other avenues of funding (disadvantaged two-year-old funding and universal entitlement for three and four-year-olds) would be available as usual.

If the child has a change in circumstances (such as adoption, special guardianship order), application for Working Parent Entitlement would need to be directed through the HMRC application process. 

Children aged 2 - Disadvantaged Entitlement

All children in foster care are eligible for the disadvantaged entitlement for 2-year-olds regardless of foster parent employment status. This entitlement is 570 hours per year, commonly offered as 15 hours per week term time, or fewer hours over more weeks of the year depending on the childcare provider.

You must apply for this funding. The foster parent or social worker can apply using the online form or paper application form and send to freefortwos@peterborough.gov.uk.

Find out how to apply for disadvantaged entitlement for 2 year olds.

You can apply for this funding from the term the child turns 2. Once this funding is in place, it continues until the child is age-eligible for the universal entitlement for 3 and 4-year-olds.

Funding can start from the 1 January, 1 April, or 1 September that follows the child’s 2nd birthday. For example, a child who turns 2 on the 1 April could receive it from the 1 September, subject to successful application.

Children aged 3 and 4 - Universal Entitlement

All 3- and 4-year-olds are eligible for the universal entitlement. This entitlement is 570 hours per year, commonly offered as 15 hours per week term time, or fewer hours over more weeks of the year. Foster carers do not have to apply for this for foster children in their care, it will be automatically processed by the child’s childcare provider.

Find out more about 15 hours funded childcare for all 3 and 4-year-olds.