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Children in foster care may be eligible for 15 hours of funded childcare if it is consistent with their care plan and foster carers are in paid work outside their role as a foster parent.

For three and four year old children, the 15 hours is in addition to the universal 15 hours that every child is entitled to from the term following their 3rd birthday.

Before you apply for funded childcare for fostered children you should talk to the child’s social worker and confirm they believe accessing childcare is in the best interests of the child.  

Eligibility criteria

The following criteria must be met for 15 hours of funded childcare to be awarded to a fostered child:

• ´óÐãÊÓƵ is the Corporate Parent of the child; if the corporate parent is another Local Authority you must contact them for an application form
• it is in the child's care plan that attending a childcare setting for the additional hours is in their best interest
• all foster parents in the household are working outside of fostering, or if a couple, at least one parent is working and the other parent is in receipt of a qualifying benefit
• the foster parents are British or Irish nationals or have a visa allowing them to have access to public funds
• the foster parents must live in England
• the foster parent(s) must be in paid work, in addition to foster caring
• non-foster parents within the household must be:
  • working and earning the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the minimum wage or national living wage
  • earning less than £100,000 per year

How to apply

Applications must be submitted in advance; funding can commence from the term after the child turns 9 months of age and the application has been received. 

The application form must be completed in full and submitted to the Early Years Systems Team with all of the required supporting evidence. 

Following a successful application, a code will be issued to the foster parent(s); the code must be refreshed every 3 months to continue being valid. If the family circumstances change and the above criteria is no longer met, the code will end and the fostered child will no longer be eligible for funded childcare*.

*If the child is two years of age, they will be eligible for Two Year Old Funding. If the child is 3 or 4 years of age, they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of funded childcare. 

Funded Childcare for Fostered Children Application Form