Kinship carers are being urged to check if they could be entitled to the weekly £25 Scottish Child Payment, after eligibility criteria was expanded to include more of them last year. The call comes in support of Scottish Kinship Care Week, which celebrates the role of extended family or friends who care for children when they cannot remain with their birth parents.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met with a group of kinship carers on Monday at an annual big breakfast hosted by the Big Hearts Community Trust at Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh to thank them and highlight the extra support available via the Scottish Child Payment and other Scottish social security benefits.
Big Hearts’ Kinship Care programme was launched in 2015 and offers a range of support for young people and their carers, including after school clubs, coffee mornings, and wellbeing advice.
The First Minister said: “We owe kinship carers an enormous debt of gratitude for the role they play in providing loving and secure homes for children and young people, and it’s vital they receive every penny of support they’re entitled to.
“In line with our commitment to tackling child poverty, we increased the Scottish Child Payment to £25 a week per eligible child last year, and expanded the eligibility criteria to include more kinship carers.”
Ms Sturgeon added that she wants to ensure everyone gets the financial support they are entitled to and is encouraging carers to check whether they’re entitled to receive the Scottish Child Payment and any other Scottish Government benefits.
You can do this quickly using an online benefits calculator or visiting the Scottish Government’s dedicated Cost of Living website here.
Craig Wilson, Big Hearts’ General Manager said: "We are so proud to work with so many amazing kinship care families and for many years we've strived to raise the profile of kinship carers and highlight the support they can and should receive.”
The Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland provides free, confidential, impartial advice to kinship families and professionals working with them. For more information go to kinship.scot or call 0808 800 0006, Monday to Friday between 10am and 2.30pm.
What is the Scottish Child Payment?
Scottish Child Payment helps towards the costs of supporting your family. It is a weekly payment of £25 that you can get for every child you look after who's under 16 years of age. You will get £25 per week, per child.
Payments are made every four weeks.
Scottish Child Payment is part of a wider package of five family payments including:
- Best Start Grant
- Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment
- Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment
- Best Start Grant School Age Payment
- Best Start Foods
Who can apply?
Only one person can get Scottish Child Payment for a child and it does not affect any other UK or Scottish Government benefits that you, or any person in your household, currently get.
You may be able to get Scottish Child Payment if all of the following apply:
- you live in Scotland
- you or your partner are getting certain benefits or payments
- you or your partner are the main person looking after a child who's under six years old
Benefits or payment you or your partner must get
You can apply whether you're in work or not, as long as you're getting one or more of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
How to apply
For full details on claiming the benefit or to make a new claim, you can do it online here. You can also apply over the phone by calling Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 222.
To keep up to date with the latest benefits news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, follow us on Twitter @Record_Money, o r subscribe to our newsletter which goes out Monday to Friday - sign up here.
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