Study: Parents Of Foster Kids Don't Get Enough Funds

USA Today:

Most states pay foster parents far less than what middle-income families spend to raise their children, says a report out today by University of Maryland researchers.

"Foster parents should receive the funds they need," says co-author Julie Farber, director of policy at Children's Rights, a New York-based advocacy group. Too often, she says, they either stop taking in foster kids or dig into their own pockets to pay for prom dresses and Boy Scout uniforms.

The report comes as more states report a shortage of families to care for the 500,000 children nationwide in foster care.

Read the whole story: USA Today

Comments

[swift goat pet for truth]

10:00 PM on 10/04/2007

The states could outsource taking care of these kids to India and China. They could be 6 and 7 year olds spending 12 hours a day working in rock quarries and making shoes. The states could take kickbacks for the kids.

The GOP would be thrilled at this new source of income. They are, after all, the Pro-Birth Party, not the Pro-Life Party.

[kellygrrrl]

06:54 PM on 10/04/2007

here's a thought:
how about all the "Pro-Life" groups who wish to overturn Roe v Wade man-up and offer to subsidize the foster parent program.

[dadw5boys]

02:27 PM on 10/03/2007

WOW FOSTER CARE PARENT GET MORE MONEY THAN SOLDIERS CAN AFFORD TO RAISE THEIR KIDS.
i KNOW PARENTS WHO DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY LEFT FOR THEIR KIDS AFTER THE PAY RENT, ELECTRIC AND CAR INSURANCE. They don't have a phone. They are 1 car break down away from homelessness and unemlployment.

[realitytrumpsbull]

02:13 PM on 10/03/2007

MORE welfare...people need to get jobs and become self-supporting, less with the government
doughnuts, more with the career stuff...

[dadw5boys]

02:24 PM on 10/03/2007

try reading the article

[AstralTechnician]

02:08 PM on 10/03/2007

Sorry for the broken link.
http://teocawki.blogspot.com

[AstralTechnician]

02:07 PM on 10/03/2007

Another group that is largely under compensated by the states are the people care for disabled or elderly relatives at home.

I'm not the only person who cares for a disabled loved one at home, but sometimes it feels that way. As I read about the wounded veterens returning from two failing wars, my heart breaks for those family members who were just getting by and now have lifetime responsibilities dealing former soldiers with brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, or other conditions that will prevent them from having a normal life themselves with those who love them.

I've heard about the ways that our veterens are being screwed nine ways to Sunday by the greedy cowards that sent them off to fight their war crime. Men and women who have sacrificed so much are being screwed out of their rightful benefits. They return home and for many, their middle class existence is a thing of the past and a wife or husband, parent or sibling is now faced with the double hardship of caring for a severely disabled person at home and trying to keep the roof over their heads, or their children in school.

If only this great nation could provide for these caregivers with the same benefits we afford to foster parents, we could lift some of the burdens that they bear, and even help to keep these families in tact. The cost to the system for home care by a family member is far less than care in a nursing facility, and far less than that of sending someone from an agency. A way should be found to share the cost saving with the overstressed, burned out and forgotten people who are in fact on the frontlines for those who cannot otherwise help themselves.

http://teocawki.blofspot.com

[mrcontinental]

01:19 PM on 10/03/2007

So what do the states expect? If they cannot at least cover the cost of providing for the children what is the incentive to help? It's quite costly to raise a child last time I checked without having to remove food and clothing from your own children's mouths to take care of a child who is not your own.