Foster Portsmouth

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Are you great at supporting others? Do you have caring experience, or a background in early years, youth services, social care, health, or education?

Right now, some Portsmouth children are living in homes sometimes miles from their schools, friends, and community, because there was no local foster home available when they needed one.

‘Belong’ is Foster Portsmouth’s new therapeutic initiative to change that.

As a ‘Belong’ therapeutic foster carer, you’ll receive:

  • £1,000 per week professional fee
  • Support from a ‘team around the home’ including a hub leader, advanced social worker, child psychologist and family support workers
  • Guaranteed sleepovers and short breaks to recharge
  •  24/7 out-of-hours support
  • Regular group and mentor support as part of our Portsmouth fostering community
  • Fully funded therapeutic training from day one
  • Income that is mostly tax-free (HMRC Qualifying Care Relief)

This is a professional role. It pays like one.

 

You will never be on your own

You’ll receive the support of a ‘team around the home’ including:

Hub leader

Advanced social worker

Child psychologist

Family support workers

Guaranteed sleepovers & short breaks

 Regular supervision and 24/7 support

Peer community

Consultation and support

Including evenings

Hub network

 

A professional role with professional pay

Therapeutic foster carers in ‘Belong’ receive £1,000 per week, so around £4,000 take home pay per month.

As a result of HMRC’s ‘Qualifying Care Relief‘, most foster carers also pay little or no tax on their fostering income.

For a full-year placement of a young person aged 11+, the tax-free threshold in 2025/26 was around £45,000, for example.

To earn the same take-home pay in a conventional salaried role, you would need to be earning approximately £71,500* a year before tax.

And, crucially, payment begins at induction, before a child is placed. So, if you are leaving a career to join ‘Belong’, there will be no gap in earnings.

How does fostering tax relief work?

*For a typical employee depending on tax code and deductions

 

MYTH FACT
Children in children’s homes must have very complex or aggressive behaviour, they would be too much for a family. These children are not defined by their behaviour. They are defined by loss and disruption. Most have had a period of children’s home stability, and are now ready and wanting to be part of a family. You will be working with children who have experienced a lot, not children with unmanageable needs.
I will be on my own dealing with very difficult behaviour. You will have a hub leader, named advanced social worker, child psychologist input, family support workers, a 24/7 out-of-hours priority line, and guaranteed sleepovers and short breaks. You will never be on your own, and our ‘team around the home’ will be on hand before things get hard, not just in a crisis.
The money is not worth it.  Fostering is too much of a financial sacrifice. This is a professionally remunerated role. Therapeutic foster carers receive £1,000 per week, around £4,000 take-home pay per month. This is equivalent to earning approximately £71,500 (PAYE salary) as a result of HMRC’s ‘Qualifying Care Relief’ as most foster carers pay little or no income tax. Payment also begins at induction, before a child is placed, so there will be no gap in earnings.
You need to be a special kind of person. I am not qualified enough. Many carers come from teaching, nursing, youth work and residential care. Your professional skills are exactly what these children need. Full therapeutic training is also funded from day one. You do not arrive as a specialist. You become one, with a team behind you.

 

Welcome to our community

When you join ‘Belong’, you become part of Foster Portsmouth’s community, a network of foster families who support each other, share experiences, and make sure no carer ever feels alone.

Our monthly reflective group is part of your role, not an optional extra.

Book a 15-minute call.

No paperwork. No commitment. Just a conversation.

Register your interest. We’ll be in touch in 24-hours.

023 9283 4071

fostering@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Foster caring heart shaped graphic

Be the difference

See the difference

Meet our other carers