Disability living allowance and personal independence payment
If the child you are fostering gets disability living allowance (DLA), s/he keeps getting it while in foster care as long as s/he continues to satisfy the usual conditions of entitlement.1Reg 9(4) and (5) SS(DLA) Regs Once the young person reaches age 16, if s/he is still on DLA, or if s/he gets personal independence payment (PIP), the mobility component continues. The care component (DLA) or daily living component (PIP) continues if either:2Reg 9(4)(b) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 28(3) SS(PIP) Regs; s93(4)(a)(ii) and (iii) C(S)A 1995 •her/his health or development is likely to be significantly or further impaired without provision of services; or
•s/he is in need of care and attention because s/he is disabled.
If you think the child for whom you care is entitled to DLA, you can make a claim on her/his behalf. Once s/he is aged 16, the young person makes the claim for PIP (see here) in her/his own right. If the child has been in local authority accommodation (eg, a residential unit) before coming to live with you, her/his DLA care component may have stopped being paid. Let the Disability Benefit Centre know s/he is now living with you and the care component should be paid again.
DLA for children will start to be replaced in Scotland from 2021 by child disability payment. It is expected that these rules will also apply to child disability payment.3Reg 11(5) DACYP(S) Regs (draft) If a child under 16 gets DLA, an adult is appointed to act on her/his behalf. This person receives payment of the child’s DLA. The appointee is usually the child’s parent. Appointeeship should stop if a child becomes ‘looked after and accommodated’, unless the arrangement is expected to last for less than 12 weeks.4Reg 43(4) SS(C&P) Regs When a child comes to live with you, you can apply to take over being the appointee by writing to the Disability Benefit Centre, giving the child’s name, date of birth and reference number if you have it (you will find it on any letters from the Disability Benefit Centre about the DLA). You should also provide your details (name, address, date of birth and national insurance (NI) number) and explain the circumstances. Alternatively, the local authority can be appointed to deal with the child’s DLA.5Reg 43(5) SS(C&P) Regs If there is disagreement about who should be a child’s appointee for DLA, the DWP decides. There is no right of appeal against this decision6Sch 2 para 5(y) SS&CS(DA) Regs but you could consider using the complaints procedures if you are unhappy with the decision (see Chapter 2).