Children in Care Allowance: Foster Care Service – Tapering of Benefit

Overview

A Children in Care Allowance – Tapering of Benefit is awarded to authorised foster carer/s, who after providing a foster care service to a child, decide to move on to adopt this same child. The fostering allowance will be gradually stopped over a period of four (4) years, or until the child reaches twenty-one (21) years of age, whichever comes first.

For information regarding cross-border situations please click here.

What you’ll get

The payment for this allowance is issued every thirteen (13) weeks in advance. This tapering benefit payment is paid per household and not per child.

When foster parent/s of a fostered child decide to adopt this same child, the Foster Care Allowance will be gradually stopped over a period of four (4) years, or until the child reaches twenty-one (21) years of age, whichever comes first. In such circumstances, in the subsequent first year of adoption, eighty (80%) of the Foster Care Allowance will continue to be paid, sixty (60%) will be paid for the second year, forty (40%) in the third year and twenty (20%) for the fourth year. This payment is stopped accordingly if the child reaches twenty-one (21) years before the fourth (4th) year of the payments.

Please click here for a Schedule of Benefits Rates

Eligibility

General eligibility criteria:

All individuals who are eligible foster carers and had gone under assessment and approval by the Fostering and Adoption Board and had fostered the child/children for at least four (4) years and then adopted this same child/children as from the beginning of the year 2023.
This tapering benefit can only be requested when the adoption for the child/children is finalised and all related adoption process documents have been submitted to the Department of Social Security. The applicant/s must have been in receipt of the Fostering Children’s Allowance for at least four (4) years to be eligible.

Documentation required

General documentation

Finalised Adoption process documents only in case these were not submitted through another application.
In the case of a change in status, a copy of the separation / divorce contract is required.