Do foster parents have to account for how they spend the money they receive for fostering?
I adopted my son from foster care, but I must admit, I am a bit ignorant of the process regarding foster parents themselves. I know foster parents receive money, however, is the money for themselves… or is it specifically supposed to be for the child: food, clothes, etc.
If it’s for the children, then do they/should they have to account for every penny spent to ensure that the children are getting what they need?
I would think that would weed out the takers.
Tags: account, Foster, fostering, Money, Parent's, receive, Spend, They
The money goes for supporting the whole family, foster children included. My mom never gets a “clothing allowance, or rarely does, once every four or five years and it’s only a hundred bucks. So the money she gets from fostering goes into support the whole family, foster children included as they are family while they live with us.
I think it’s depends on how you spend the money for the children,you receive them because you adopt a child and you will be responsible if you spend the money for your own good.
Dear Kazi,
Not to my knowledge.
I hear many non-custodial parents asking the same question about child support payments.
I DO think there should be some kind of accountability system. Unfortunately, I also think lots of people would have hissy fits and complain about invasions of privacy and it would be really difficult to make rules about it. Perhaps if debit cards are used (as some states are beginning to) there can be certain blocks and limits put on HOW the money can be spent. Like making the cards work only for certain types of purchases or auditing the records of those cards to see where the money goes.
It IS a bigger problem than people realize and something really should be addressed. I guess, if governments and corporations can misuse taxpayer and investor funds and get away with it people assume it is ok to do to children too.
Not in California.
I can tell you a number of families have foster kids and spend the money exactly as they like.
Granted, the money they get doesn’t come close to the actual expenses of raising the foster child, but I do know that sometimes that money is misused.
It’s ransom.
We didn’t.
We fostered our son in California before adopting him. We were given a monthly check to help with our son’s clothing and food costs, etc. No, it’s not enough to raise a child. I can’t imagine how anyone MAKES money off of having foster children in their home. My son didn’t wear designer clothes and we certainly didn’t buy new cars or take fancy vacations on his check! We’d have had to starve the poor boy and let him wear last year’s clothing if we wanted to see a ‘profit. ‘
How disgusting.
Whether or not the money is enough to raise a child, I’m sure there going to be people who will use the money for themslves.
I think receipts should be kept and be produced on demand for proof, at least periodically. It might be a record keeping nightmare to maintain separate receipts. Food on the other hand, I can see virtually impossible to keep separate.
Somehow though, I don’t see accountability to where every penny goes is going to be something easily done.
No, we didn’t, and really thank goodness. How do you account for extra food, and extra utilities? We would not use all the clothing budget one month but go on a spree when there was a sale. We as foster parents needed that discretion. WE also paid for them to do gymnastics and things like that.
I see the point of having to account, but in reality when you have four foster children you don’t have time to book keep, because you are:
Taking care of four children
Taking children to and from visits with their parents
Endless meetings with social workers
Journalling all children’s behaviour
Regular parental type duties
there is just no time for accounting. But really the payments received was so low there would not be that much to account for!~
The money is there to support the child in a lot of ways that can’t directly be accounted for. By that I mean for food and other expenses that don’t remain. In our area there is a minimum clothing and supply list that is supposed to be met and when the child leaves to go to another home or to return to his/her home the items on that list are supposed to be going with him/her. Clothing, toys, luggage and other personal items are all supposed to be accounted for and remain the property of the child and they are essentially paid for from that monthly money. As long as the child is well fed, cared for, clothed and has what he/she needs as for the departmental standards there is no other accounting for the money that goes on. Mind you, if you do that then the money must be spent on the child because it takes what is given to ensure that is met. . . and then some. The “takers” are weeded out just by virtue of the system already in place in the vast majority of cases.
They get a reimbursement and it is no where close to what you (hopefully if you are doing this for the kids and not the money) spend on them.
They tell you the money is not meant to cover all expenses just help. I
For instance in our state/county we get in our check 21. 51 every month in clothing allowances for our foster son. Sorry but i spend way more than that. He is 6 months i went to GAP yesterday and spent 50. 00 alone on him on clothes and that was just a few things. Then i got 1 pair of stride rite shoes for 42. 00. I way over spent his clothing allowance.
Then we get in my county which is the highest paid in the state because of an overwhelming need 20. 00 a day for room and board for babies I think it goes down for older kids. Well formula diapers wipes alone take more than half the check. we aren’t even going to go into the money we spent on Christmas.
I am not complaining we love him and want him to have everything he needs. My point is if you take care of foster kids as if they were your own you should have no issue accounting for all the money.
I do think that is a good idea though for those who foster for the money. However there are lots of things that that having extra people in your home can increase your expensies. Food, utility bills, laundry detergent, gas taking them to school and or sports and doctors appointments.
It is a good idea in theory but I don’t think it will work
Now I think that the social workers at least in my state need to do this more than once a year. They do a minimum needed. They look through the kids clothes toys and their personal things . They have a list of what the state thinks the minimum amount of things should be.
Ya’ll might want to read this. . Foster Care Maintenance Payments by State. . . .
http://www. hunter. cuny. edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/foster-care-maintenance-payments. pdf
Hi Kazi,
There is not a system that requires people to account for “how” they spend the foster care money. The money is supposed to be utilized for shelter, food, utilities, clothing, toys, etc that would be part of the “family” and being a member of that family.
Some states have clothing allowances every 3 months and some have allowances for kids to get things like camp, school rings, prom dresses, etc. Some have allowances for holidays, as well.
In some cases, you have to apply for those “extra” allowances.
Now, after living in several foster homes that I KNOW did not use the money appropriately, I am convinced that their should be some checking done.
Some simple things are:
1) Ask the foster child if they are getting enough to eat. What they are eating. 3 meals a day? snacks?
Food is often a good indicator if their are money problems.
Remember though, that most foster kids are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. But when not in school, what and how are they eating?
2) Ask about clothes and make notes about appearance when the workers “show-up” for their monthly visit. Are clothes too small, dirty, wore-out. Look in their closet or dresser. Do they have several outfits? or just a few? What about underwear? Are there several pairs of underwear? Kids grow quick. . . .
3) Ask about toiletries. Do the kids have deodradant, shampoo, soap, etc. When people don’t have enough money, these things become a second thought and the kids might not have any.
While this does not indicate that the money is being spent appropriately, these things are indicators that finances might be a problem. . . . . . and that perhaps (a) the foster parents are not using the money correctly or (b) the foster parents don’t have enough money to provide in general and should be dismissed as foster parents.
Not for normal payments, it is treated just like child support payments (you can spend them however you deem fit with no accounting). Sometimes however, you are given a special amount, like when you first get a child or a clothing allowance that you might be asked to show receipts. Us and everyone I know who does foster care spends much more than we are given in payments for our children.
This issue needs reform. . . . . my sister that fosters has tried to decline the payments. . . . . they don’t need it. The state she lives in makes her accept them.
Its the same thing for social security. . . . . my grandmother told the IRS that she didn’t want it and they still made her take the checks. She would just end up giving it to charity.
I think foster parents should account for a good portion of the money that they get from doing foster care. When I was a foster parent, one of the little boys step-mother’s (father and step-mother had custody and lost it) was upset because I would not buy his clothes at the salvation army or at garage sales. I saw nothing wrong with buying his clothes from the store I shopped in for everyone else in the home. It even got to the point that when he would go home for visits, the step mother would have him change his clothes and send his back in things that were too small or ripped and stained. I was also told I was spoiling him too much for taking him places with us, and I should not be getting him things. When we went for the foster parent classes we were told we should treat any foster child like they were part of our family. this is exactly what we did. My point is you cant make everyone happy and the money does not matter. In fact the amount we were given to foster was spent directly on the children. Foster care should not be a job.