Making the big bucks as a foster parent

Since as a foster parent I am biased and I'm not an expert by any means I will show the statistics on what foster care rates are and what they 'should' be using a national study, see below, underneath of the study I will put my own thoughts and feelings. 


1st off here is what we are compensated, I don't like saying paid because really it's not payment it is compensating us for the money we are spending and perhaps, a tad for the time we are spending...basically for us we get $99 and some change per week per kid. 
http://www.mfia.state.mi.us/olmweb/ex/fom/905-3.pdf
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A first ever national research study was performed to establish minimum adequate rates for children; the goal was to perform calculations of the real expenses for caring for children in foster care. So how does Michigan rate? Poorly I’m afraid, though not the worst by far. The study found...........

Michigan’s current foster care rate for a child 2 and under is $433/month; the recommendation is $646 plus reimbursement for travel expenses and childcare. According to their calculations Michigan needs to increase its reimbursement rate by 49%. The national data shows the cost of raising a child in the same age range in the Midwest is $750. The group in the worst shape is reimbursement for children 9-16 which needs to increase by 71%!

You can compare this to our nearby state of Indiana which reimburses foster families of the same age $760 a month, compared to $433 is a big difference! 

The MARC study states that low rates can negatively impact the states ability to recruit and retain foster parents which sets off a chain reaction of negative events that has life long consequences for children in foster care. When an adequate pool of foster parents are unable to be maintained children are more likely to be placed in institutionalized facilities which are costly or shuttled from placement to placement, an unstable situation which harms the child and can decrease their chances of growing up in a permanent family. 
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Now 1st let me say I think there should be a special place in hell for bad foster parents trying to make a buck, I truly mean that. Parents that neglect and abuse their kids are one thing but taking in a damaged/injured/abused/neglected child and making money off of them and then treating them the same or worse..... despicable. 


That being said I don't think it matters HOW you provide help or payment to foster parents there is going to be those who figure out a way to abuse it...period. I believe there needs to be more control over the environment provided by foster parents and a higher bar. I feel if they raised the rates of compensation so that more people could afford to do foster care but more  tightly monitored the foster homes it would be a better affect for the kids in the end, I know more than one family that is interested in providing a home to an extra child but can't afford to. I also think that it should NOT be ok for foster homes to be marginally better, if at all, than the homes the kids were taken from. I had a CW tell me that there are only 3 homes she would sit down in, including foster homes.....that is not ok. 


I feel that the costs of taking care of all of the basics for the kids should be covered by the state but not enough to cover all of the extra's we as parents may want to do such as camps, clubs etc. My feeling is that food, shelter, housing, clothing, medical, and daycare should all be covered. Now as for the extra's it should be in line with what the family already does, if we want to take our kids to camp, disney, and every activity each weekend and we choose to foster then we should be willing to do that for those children too and I dont expect the state to foot that bill. I could see for some of the older kids having foundations set up to sponsor such extra activities but not money taken out of the state budget as an expectation.

As for our $99 a week it sounds like a lot, I admit and on a weekly basis no we aren't spending that much money but over the course of the year I believe we do. When you add in things like extra formula as $30/can, or a $30 special probiotic, diapers, wipes, baby swings, bouncers, cribs, gas to and from visits and doctor visits, not to mention missed work, clothes that ONE of our babies is growing out of as quick as I can buy etc it all adds up and quick.