Why wealth makes a difference in foster care

I always wanted to be moved to a residential placement rather than to a foster family because you never know what to expect when moving in with another family. Things always start off well but after a while may go downhill, writes Jennifer Sarumi (pictured)

In a residential placement all the children are like you, no one is the “child of the carer” and everyone receives the same money.

That’s why I was interested in the podcast on the website of the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) asking children in care what makes a good carer. “Rich” was one answer that made me think.

Many other young people I know who have been in care say they can tell the difference between the carers who take the job for the love of children and those who take it for the love of money. It is easy to spot the good carers, especially if they are obviously wealthy on their own, because you know they are not seeking to make money from your misfortunes.

The money-grabbing foster carers, however, will find ways to ensure they spend the minimum on you. My first long-term carer bought me a perfume that couldn’t have cost more than £20 for my birthday and, although I was grateful at the time, I did not realise I was meant to have £100 birthday money until much later.

This is the inconsistency of the foster care system – some children will have huge sums spent on them at birthdays and Christmas and others will have only the minimum. Like it or not, money does make a difference.

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Published in 26 August 2010 Community Care under headline Like it or not, money makes a difference