Kinship Foster Care in Northern Ireland: How It Differs from a Residence Order

When an HSC Trust places a child with a relative under a Care Order or Article 21 accommodation, that relative becomes a kinship foster carer — a formal status that carries a very different set of rules, allowances and obligations than a private Residence Order. The confusion between these two tracks leaves families unsure which path they are on and what money they should be receiving.

What Makes Kinship Foster Care Different

A kinship foster carer is approved and supervised by one of Northern Ireland's five HSC Trusts. The child is classified as a Looked After Child under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. The 2019 Minimum Standards apply, requiring the Trust to provide a formal support plan, supervisory visits and Model Scheme foster allowance payments.

In contrast, a Residence Order is a private law arrangement under Article 8 of the 1995 Order. The relative applies to the Family Proceedings Court, and once the order is granted, the child is not a Looked After Child. There is no mandatory supervision, but there is also no automatic entitlement to the same financial support.

Kinship Foster Care Allowance vs Residence Order Allowance

Approved kinship foster carers receive the same Model Scheme foster allowance set annually by the Department of Health. These rates are standardised across all five HSC Trusts and are paid as of right — they are not means-tested.

A Residence Order Allowance is discretionary. Each HSC Trust decides whether to pay it, and the amount is typically calculated by taking the foster care baseline rate and then deducting Child Benefit and the Universal Credit child element. On top of that, most Trusts apply a household means test. The result is that Residence Order carers often receive significantly less per week than kinship foster carers looking after a child in comparable circumstances.

Why Some Carers Move from Foster to Residence

Despite the financial gap, many kinship foster carers eventually apply for a Residence Order. The reasons are practical: a Residence Order gives the carer shared Parental Responsibility, removes the need for Trust permission on day-to-day decisions like school trips and medical treatment, and provides a sense of permanence that statutory foster care does not.

The trade-off is real, though. Once the Residence Order is granted, the child ceases to be Looked After and the mandatory foster allowance stops. The carer must then apply separately to the Trust for a discretionary Residence Order Allowance — and approval is far from guaranteed.

How Approval Works

To become an approved kinship foster carer, the Trust carries out a formal fostering assessment and approval process. The Minimum Kinship Care Standards (2019) require a formal support plan, supervisory visits and Model Scheme foster allowance payments.

Private Residence Order applicants go through no fostering assessment. They file Form C1 at the Family Proceedings Court, and the court may order an Article 4 welfare report, but the threshold is different — the court applies the welfare paramountcy principle, not fostering regulations.

Which Track Are You On?

If the HSC Trust placed the child with you and you went through a fostering panel, you are on the kinship foster care track. If you applied to court yourself (or are thinking about it), you are on the private Residence Order track.

If you are unsure, ask your Trust social worker directly whether the child is classified as Looked After. That single answer determines which financial provisions and support obligations apply.

Our Kinship Care in Northern Ireland guide walks through both tracks in detail — the forms, the allowances, and the step-by-step process for each route — so you can see exactly where you stand and what you are entitled to claim.

See more Northern Ireland guides →