A city council is introducing a new scheme to help foster carers adopt the children they look after.

Derby City Council officials believe the scheme will help 55 children who are currently well-settled in long-term foster care.

Normally if a child is adopted by a foster carer, the family would lose the fostering allowance they receive to pay for the cost of looking after the child and take full financial reponsibility for the child's care.

But under Derby's scheme, carers will be able to keep the allowance when they tranfer from foster carers to adoptive parents.

Sometimes adopting parents receive an allowance particularly if the child has special needs - but this is less than the fostering allowance so carers would lose out by adopting the child.

For instance, the fostering allowance for a six-year-old is £76.79 a week, but an adoption allowance would be just £49.63. For a 12-year-old, the fostering allowance would be £95.55 a week, but an adoption allowance would be only £59.08.

A report to Derby's policy committee today recommends in these cases that an allowance, based on the weekly fostering rate for the age of the child, be paid to carers who adopt.

If a child is adopted, the foster family would then become eligible for child benefit paid by the Government and this could be deducted from the allowance paid by the council.

For the council it has the benefit of reducing the number of children in its care but the authority was keen to stress that the proposals are not about saving money.

Social services director Margaret McGlade said: "This is not, primarily, a scheme to save money. It's about giving children who are in long-term care a better and more secure future without them having to grow up in local authority care.

"It's to create another opportunity in life for these children and their foster carers. We believe that children are better if they are living in a family where they are secure for the future as family has responsibility for them.

"Not all the foster carers or children will want to take part but this will provide them with a chance."

However, the report to the committee does point out that the scheme would produce average savings for each child of £3,160 a year.

To find out more about fostering in Derby, call 01332 718000.

To find out about fostering for Derbyshire County Council on 01629 772211. Or click here for information and a online form to register your interest.

Story courtesy of the Derby Evening Telegraph