How much money do foster parents get to foster a newborn baby?

Answer 1

Answer:

If you feel compelled to ask about how much money you will receive as a foster parent; you should not be participating in this area. The priority is the child's welfare, which is carefully monitored by the foster agency. You will receive enough money to meet the child's needs, plus some. Still, this is not about a family business, its about the appropriate development, nurturing, and an over-all maturation process to ensure a child's future. Its not about money.

Rebuttal:

However, the reason I wanted to know a ball park figure is that I am raising my two grandchildren, keeping them out of the foster care system. I get a grant from the state to help me out, which takes care of the day care while I work and a small amount per month on top of that. They act as if they are paying me out of their pocket and I get a lot of grief from them. So my question about how much it pays was to determine about how much the state saves when someone steps up and takes the children instead of putting them in to foster care. I do firmly believe what you said however, if you are looking into doing this, the money you make should not be why you do it.

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Answer:

This varies widely from state to state but the typical range is between $15 and $30 a day in total compensation. That compensation is not always in cash and may be a combination of food stamps, clothing vouchers and donated goods.

Something else to keep in mind is that these compensations are considered reimbursement. Meaning you are expected to front all of the expenses up front and may not receive anything in return for 4 to 6 weeks.

For example a child may show up with no extra clothing, you may be given $50 a month for a clothing allowance, you are not likely to receive your first $50 clothing voucher for 4 to 6 weeks after getting the child. So you would be fronting any clothing expenses the child needs and by the time you get more money for clothing it is likely to be time to buy something else with that money.

This is an issue that needs to be considered for all basic necessities like food, clothing, entertainment, school supplies, etc. Also note that you will not be reimbursed for any large setup costs such as furniture for bedrooms.

The only expenses you are not normally expected to cover will be medical as the child should be put on a state sponsored medical program, though in some states there may still be an up front and/or non refundable deductible that is out of pocket to the foster parent.

If a child has special needs (handicap, etc) there may be small allowances for additional unusual expenses but again these are likely to be reimbursed after the parent fronts the money and will often require receipts to prove the cost.

There are essentially two options with foster care, take in only one or two children, typically in addition to your own and do it purely out of love. You will lose money, so you will need to have enough income to cover the addition of more children into your life. The amount reimbursed is likely to barely scratch the surface.

The second option is full time fostering of multiple children. If you have the space to foster 6 to 10 children at once you may be able to leverage the reimbursements to cover all expenses. Food budgets can be stretched by making large cheaper meals at home, clothing budgets can be stretched with hand me downs and group events can be organized to help attempt to keep the children entertained at minimal costs. You still wont be making much that could be considered profit, but you might get by without a job of your own if you make fostering your full time activity.

If for any reason you are considering doing this for the money, realize you will be much higher paid operating a professional day care with private clients than what you will be getting as a foster parent even with multiple children. And foster parenting is 24/7, these kids aren't going home at the end of the day.