Stipend breakdown

[Note: This is also posted on the private blog.]

Recently "MamaFoster" posted about foster care money and how her stipend works. I've been meaning to write a post about it ever since. Here is how mine breaks down:

Daily Rate: First I should note that I foster through my county's Department of Social Services [aka, DSS] and not through a private agency.* My county has different rates based on age and "level of care." While I can't share our specific rates [to keep my location private], I can say is that if you take a teen, your stipend is increased by a whole 50¢ a day. For special needs children [those with documented physical/emotional/learning problems], the daily rate increases by about $3.75 a day.

Clothing: When a child is first placed with you, there is an initial clothing allowance of around $100. In order to be reimbursed for this, you have to submit receipts. In addition, built into our daily stipend rate is a "clothing allowance." This adds up to be about $70 a month. We do not have to submit to be reimbursed or provide receipts for this "allowance," as it is included in the daily rate.

Receipts: While we do not have to provide any sort of "proof" of how our stipend is spent, we do have to submit receipts to receive reimbursement for certain expenses that are not considered to be included in the stipend. On a regular basis, I submit for mileage reimbursement. This covers trips to and from court, family visits, doctor appointments, school etc. To be reimbursed, you have to keep a pretty detailed record. This is one of the things that stuck in my head from my training over 3 years ago. I'm glad I listened, because it sure has added up. Especially in the beginning when I was taking Jade back and forth to school several days a week.

Medical: Thankfully, just about everything is covered now that she is on state insurance. If not, I would be a hot mess trying to pay for all of this out of pocket and then having to get reimbursed later. Jade has many, many doctors and twice as many appointments. For every appointment a form must be filled out and a copy goes to her SW. This can be a challenge because some doctors don't want to fill out the form or have an issue sharing confidential information.

Allowance/"Child's Money": MamaFoster and some other parents said that part of their stipend is considered the "child's money." The child's money goes to the foster parent, but must be spent directly on the child, or, if the child is old enough, the money is to be given as allowance. They have to provide documentation for how the child's money was spent. The stipend I receive is not classified that way...I just receive a set daily rate. I do, however, give Jade an allowance. I've talked about it before. It comes to about $100 a month, which I think is pretty decent for a 17 year old. I'm currently working on getting her to actually earn that allowance. She isn't really doing much for it and I haven't been that great about enforcing things. That's another post...

Birthdays & Holidays: We do not receive any extra money from DSS for Christmas, birthdays or any other holidays. From the discussion on MamaFoster's blog, it sounds like that is not the norm. Some commented that they receive an additional monetary amount, others receive physical gifts and some get both spending money and gifts...be it nominal or considerable. We get neither. I just had to budget my stipend differently for the month and relied on some plastic. I thought Jade deserved a nice Christmas and I feel like most of the stipend should benefit her directly, anyway. As for DSS, they did not recognize the holiday in any way shape or form. A completely separate organization gave the foster families a very nice Christmas party and gave each family a gift. DSS was not part of this and although they were invited, I did not see a single staff member at the event. This is my first Christmas with a foster child and I found it strange that they didn't do a single thing for the kids. I at least sent our worker a card. We didn't even get that. Birthdays are also up to the foster parents.

I try to spend as much of the monthly stipend directly on Jade as possible. I take her on excursions now and then that require a hotel or admission price, so money is spent there. I also love surprising her with unexpected goodies now and then. She eats A LOT and the kitchen is stocked with all her favorite things and any special requests. We also go out to eat a lot. I treat her friends now and then too. I ended up paying for her school books, but I didn't ask her to pay me back because I know she needs that money for a car. Technically, she was expected to "reimburse" me with the money she received from her educational grant. Of course, having a teen girl in my house has caused my utilities to go up and I'm filling my gas tank more driving her back and forth to friends' houses. I haven't seen any "financial gain" since I started fostering full-time, nearly 5 months ago. If anything, I'm more broke! lol. Seriously, though. While we receive a fair stipend in my county, there is no way in H double hockey sticks that I'm living off of it or reaping some ridiculous financial benefit. I don't see how people do it "for the money" unless they have a house full of foster kids and they are seriously neglected. And the special needs rate only adds about $100 per month per child. Again, that's another post.

That is all I can think of for now. I'm interested in hearing about how other foster parents' stipends breakdown...please, share by posting a comment!

*btw, sort of off-subject, I am curious to find out how many of you foster through your state/county vs how many foster through private agencies. All the private foster care agencies around me seem to specialize in special need/therapeutic/treatment foster care. If you foster through a private agency, does your agency only place children with special needs, or do they place "neurotypical" children too?