ENJOYING ECONOMIC WELLBEING

Each child has a bank account opened for them when they come to the home. They are given pocket money each week as well as clothing and personal allowances.  Depending on the age and understanding of the child and also after carrying out risk assessments and determining the risks, older children are able to have all their money in hand each week for them to learn to budget and plan for things they need to buy. It is important that there is a balance however between a healthy risk and a risk which can cause the child significant harm and this is always taken into consideration when making decisions about the child’s allowances. In all instances, an amount of pocket money will be given in hand to each child twice per week. The only exception to this is if a child has to pay reparation for something and in this case a third of their pocket money can be withheld for this reason.

If at any time, the Registered Manger feels, due to risk assessments that a child having money in hand is detrimental to their health, the decision can be made for the child to have their money supervised by staff. Examples of when this would happen would be if it is feared that a child is purchasing drugs or alcohol or absconding regularly and staff are unsure of the safety of the child when not in the home.

There are monetary rewards that the children can earn on a regular basis, for example, washing the company cars, helping out with gardening and house chores which are over and above the amount that would constitute contributing to the home.

In addition to the above, all children who do not damage property or cause injury or use threatening or aggressive behaviour over a period of a month will, for that month receive £20 which is paid into their savings account for them to build on during their time with us and be able to take with them when they leave.

As part of developing independence post 14 years of age young people are encouraged to be more autonomous and given funds for which they are taught to show the capacity to manage their day to day needs – i.e: purchasing toiletries / mobile phone credit, clothing and travel. This helps prepare the children for adulthood and take appropriate responsibility. This may mean repeated trials in this training as money management is a challenging issue for the young people we work with – especially given the temptations they may be drawn into.