# Settling in Grants for Adoption...how much?



## dreamingofabettertime (Jun 12, 2012)

Do you know if there is a set payment for settling in (buying equipment) when adopting, finding it difficult to find government confirmation on it?I can see that authorities are required to provide it but how much?


Thanks again for your help.


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## Miny Moo (Jan 13, 2011)

Depends on the authority, from what I've been reading many don't do it anymore due to budgets. 1st time we received £250 which was just paid to us along with intros expenditures once our son had moved in, 2nd time placing LA allocated £1000 per child, this time we had to keep receipts for any thing we'd bought and the £1000 also had to cover accomadation for intros as well and as we had to have faily large accomadation to house, us, our son and my mum who came to look after our son when we were doing some of the intros a lot of it was eaten up by that.


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## GERTIE179 (Apr 20, 2005)

I don't think LAs do it much now, maybe in harder to place cases or long distance due to budget cuts etc.
But each LA is different - ours didn't for under 2yrs as our SW said "if you had a BC, you're expected to pay for things for the baby". Our placing LA did though (£250 max and had to submit receipts) but our child was hard to place. We didn't get told about it til planning meet (before first meeting LO and starting intros) as we and SW just assumed same policy.


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## Belliboo (Dec 23, 2007)

Our placing authority gave £250 plus travel expenses both times xx


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## AdoptionDreams (Feb 10, 2010)

We get a one off payment of £750 x


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## Barbados Girl (Jul 7, 2012)

£500 for us. I am back on my hobby horse- the adoption system needs to be centralised!


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## Kaytie (May 7, 2005)

Ours was up to £1000 for equipment incl bedding and clothes. Some restrictions. Had to keep all receipts. Our SW was great, we had not reached the limit and she made us go and buy more clothes, next size up and some more bedding as we had only bought one set. That was back in 2011 though, will have to wait and see what it's like now.

Think we claimed back just under £850.

We also got travel expenses back, this was separate.

Good luck x


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## Macgyver (Oct 27, 2008)

We just got the cost of the hotel stay and any Milage over 50 miles each day.
No other grants were available we just got some expenses.   I think it depends on your la.


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## katie c (Jun 15, 2009)

ours was £500 plus mileage for intros. although i never did bother with the mileage as the FC only lived a couple of miles away!


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

Nothing and we took siblings the eldest was over three and deemed as having a high level of emotional need.  We weren't bothered through we knew they were our children the moment we saw them a settling grant wouldn't change that.  

We got accommodation and milage paid for intros but we funded other costs like food and trips out with the girls xxx


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## Anjelissa (Jan 11, 2007)

Another example here of varying support dependant on LA I'm afraid.
First time around our LA didn't offer settling in grants.
Second time (different LA), we were offered £500 settling in grant.

Both LA's covered cost of mileage during intros (and overnight stay during our 2nd adoption).  

Like others have said, I think a lot of LA's don't offer it now due to budget cuts.

Just looking at this thread it shows how inconsistent it is.

Anj x


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## HannahLou (May 22, 2011)

We got nothing x


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## Lorella (Jan 10, 2013)

We get mileage and hotel accommodation paid for with intros and court costs. 
No grants due to spending cuts xx


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## Daddyboo (Paul) (Dec 24, 2012)

We got mileage paid for (at 38p per mile) plus £250 for safety related equipment - but receipts were needed.

We ended up with just over £400 all in.


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## beachgirl (Jun 7, 2007)

Ours paid £250 plus mileage.....


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## Brummig (Jan 14, 2011)

We got £400 grant (receipts needed), and mileage plus (after a bit of a battle in the planning meeting) we got accommodation for 3 nights.  We could also claim for food and refreshments, but we didn't claim much as FCs were very happy to give us drinks, and we had a self catering cottage for the 3 days so cooked ourselves.
It did however take over 4 months for them to reimburse us.


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## summer girl (Nov 27, 2009)

We got £250 receipts needed to be provided, 3 days of accommodation and 10p per mile for the journeys! Our son came basically with nothing from his foster home, we had to provide all clothes, bedding, toys etc!


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## dreamingofabettertime (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks to those who have replied, its crazy but hardly anyone's experience is the same. Are there any others who have examples of this? It appears that there is absolutely no consistency throughout the country??


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## Waiting_patiently (Dec 4, 2013)

We've had and are getting nothing, currently on intros with a 9 mth old, have been told we can claim mileage for intros but nothing else has been offered and to be honest we never for one minute expected anything. We went into this ask them to help us have a family, if we had achieved this naturally then no one else would be paying for what we may need, so why would we / anyone expect it now.

The only exception to this of course would be if our child had 'needs' that required specific equipment i.e. not available in standard shops, specifically for their needs etc then like any birth child I would have appreciated 'help' (meaning funded benefits according to needs etc) but thats no different to receiving help when a child / adult etc has extra needs full stop that happens in everyday life, but money to help build our nursery or what our baby needs day to day, why on earth should we or anyone get that? 

Edited to add, sorry to sound slightly harsh but this is one subject that really gets my goat, If we want a child we should be prepared to provide for it just as we would have HAD TO HAVE DONE had we successfully conceived naturally, simple as!


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## Handstitchedmum (Mar 24, 2013)

Hello Waiting_patiently,  I hope the intros are going well. You must be so excited/tired/stressed!?  

I think the theory behind financial support is that adopters are saving the local authorities thousands of pounds by removing a child from care.

Support is often means tested, because income isn't supposed to be a barrier to adopting. But, many harder to place children come with support, to encourage adopters or to ensure they can afford to provide for the child's special needs. For some people, this support means they can stay at home longer, to build attachments. Some support is used to overcome physical barriers to adoption, such as extending a house or getting a bigger car. Others is used to access specialist therapy. And so on.


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## littlepoppy86 (Feb 14, 2014)

Wow the variance is crazy! 

I feel really lucky now, our LO is classed to la as hard to place Altho nothing hard to place about him in our eyes! 

We got £300 settling in grant, accom, mileage, food & a weekly ongoing allowance for a year. Weekly allowance is means tested but I don't consider ourselves at the breadline or anywhere near!!


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## Arrows (Nov 9, 2008)

In 2012 we got £250 for safety equipment, accommodation provided on two nights and mileage (out of county adoption). Our son came with pretty much nothing at 10mths old. We had the finances to pay for everyday living but not the hundreds we needed for all the toys, clothes and equipment we needed straight away. Thankfully we are blessed with many friends who love passing things on and  doting new grandparents who also wanted to contribute by contributing towards things like a pushchair.


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## AoC (Oct 28, 2008)

Plus of course if we were having a baby naturally, we wouldn't be travelling hundreds of miles to attend meetings, stay for a week in a strange place or deal with all the artificial processes associated with adoption.  

We were grateful for anything we got.


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## Kaytie (May 7, 2005)

Kaytie said:


> Ours was up to £1000 for equipment incl bedding and clothes. Some restrictions. Had to keep all receipts. Our SW was great, we had not reached the limit and she made us go and buy more clothes, next size up and some more bedding as we had only bought one set. That was back in 2011 though, will have to wait and see what it's like now.
> 
> Think we claimed back just under £850.
> 
> ...


Just to update on my previous post. We were told that the settling in Grant has been cancelled now, so no financial support. Also, weekly foster allowance for adopters has halfed to just over £50 per week. Happy days!


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## Laws1612 (Dec 12, 2011)

Hi.....we are just wsiting for matching panel of two blues 1 and 3 and no settling in grant. Just mileage but foster carer lives less than 10 miles away. Guessing its down to la xxx


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