Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

States scrimp on pay to foster parents, survey says

NEW YORK - Most states reimburse foster parents significantly less than the cost of raising a foster child, complicating the task of finding good homes for children who need them, according to a first-of-its-kind survey.

The survey analyzed regional living expenses and calculated on a state-by-state basis the minimum cost of adequately raising a foster child. Only Arizona and the District of Columbia pay foster parents more than this minimum amount, according the survey. Twenty-eight states, including Florida, would need to boost their payments at least 50 percent to meet the minimum rate.

Five states - Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin - would need to more than double their current base rates, according to the report. It was compiled by the University of Maryland School of Social Work, the National Foster Parent Association, and Children's Rights, a New York-based advocacy group, for release today.

Of the more than 500,000 U.S. children in foster care at any given time, about 75 percent live with foster parents, while most of the others are placed in group homes and institutions.

The base rates paid for raising a 2-year-old foster child range from $236 a month in Nebraska to $869 in the District of Columbia.

The "minimum adequate rates" in the report represented the cost of providing basic needs - housing, food, clothing and school supplies - as well as a child's participation in normal after-school sports and activities.

The monthly rates recommended by the report, averaged out on a national basis, were $629 for 2-year-olds, $721 for 9-year-olds and $790 for 16-year-olds. Currently, the average actual monthly base rates offered by states are $488 for 2-year-olds, $509 for 9-year-olds and $568 for 16-year-olds.

While Arizona and the District of Columbia were the only jurisdictions whose base payments exceeded the recommended minimums, 10 other states fell short by only small amounts: Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 01:20:30]