Pinching pennies: Foster parents struggling to meet needs of youths in their care
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| David Kennedy photo - Sara Glasscock of Jennings and two of her adopted children, Kobe, 8, (left) and Anthony Slaughter. Glasscock was among the North County foster and adoptive parents who earlier this week lobbied the Missouri legislature for an increase in state funding to help support foster and adoptive children. A nationwide survey of state reimbursement to foster parents ranks Missouri 49th out of the 50 states. |
That duty to family, which has been fulfilled, evolved into a desire to help other children whose parents aren't able to do the job. The Clarks became foster parents.
"We started fostering by accident," Debbie Clark said. "After the second (grandchild) left, we realized this was something we could do and both of us enjoyed and wanted to do."But the Clarks, like other foster parents in North County and throughout Missouri, soon learned this was a duty with lots of emotional - but few economic - rewards.
Missouri gives foster parents a "reimbursement" each month, different amounts for different categories of children. For example, the care of a traditional 2-year-old foster child carries a $271-a-month reimbursement.
That's the second-lowest rate paid among the 50 states. Nebraska is at the very bottom of the list, providing $226 a month to foster parents of 2-year-olds.
By contrast, Arizona's rate for caring for a 2-year-old is $793 a month. Closer to home, Indiana pays $760. Arkansas, often at the bottom of many lists regarding government spending, provides $400 a month. Nationwide, the average is $488.
And that's why Debbie Clark on Monday joined scores of foster parents from throughout the state in pleading their case for more funding to members of the Missouri General Assembly.
Gov. Matt Blunt proposed adding $2.5 million to funding for foster and adoptive parents to the budget that begins July 1.
But to cover the actual expense - food, shelter, clothing and the substantially increasing cost of transportation, as noted by the National Foster Parent Association - the amount needs to be raised by $10 million. Considering that the legislature's budget writers this session have trimmed many of Blunt's proposed budget initiatives, a $10-million increase seems highly unlikely.
Still, any increase would be much appreciated by Clark.
"When I got into this, I worked a full-time job," she said. "I quit my job in December because I felt it was necessary. The more I worked with these kids, the more I recognized the need to focus on them."
For foster parents like Clark and Sara Glasscock of Jennings, it's the everyday events most families take for granted that get pushed aside because of the cost.
"A trip to McDonald's is $60," Clark said. "We don't do that. We can't do that."
Glasscock is single foster parent. While that's not as rare as it was a decade or two ago, still it's not the norm in foster parenting. The state still prefers to place children in two-parent homes in an effort to provide stability and nurturing from a mom and a dad.
As a single parent of children who often come into care with behavioral problems, the cost can be significant. "They bust things and they break things," she said in a matter-of-fact manner.
Amenities such as purchasing swimming pool passes or enrolling kids in basketball camps or summer camps can become expensive.
"Everything is out of our pockets," Glasscock said.
Part of the training of foster parents - and the amount of training can be substantial - emphasizes the need to make the children as much a part of the biological family as possible. If the biological child is involved in sports, the foster child should have the same opportunity.
In the case of many foster families, that becomes a Catch-22. For foster families with several children involved in after-school activities, the cost of getting them to and from those events can be considerable.
"We don't get reimbursed for our driving and our mileage," Glasscock said. "With gas prices up, it's hard on us."
She offered a travel expense that perhaps no one ever thought about: "My (foster) kids just went to a parenting-class graduation" for their biological parents. It was yet another expense that came directly out of her pocketbook, but one that was necessary in order for the foster children to successfully return to their natural parents.
Foster children do receive assistance from the state for some things. Their medical and dental treatment are covered by Medicaid, but travel to and from appointments is not. The state provides an allotment each year for new school clothes, but not for school supplies.
Clark, who now has three foster children, pointed out that while a larger reimbursement would be welcome, the majority of foster parents do what they do because of other rewards.
Sometimes, those rewards can come in the most unusual forms, as in the case of a 6-year-old deaf boy that Clark was caring for. She said she had always wanted to learn sign language and that having a deaf foster child gave her the reason to finally learn it.
"When you have a (deaf) 6-year-old screaming and waving his hands around - that's a real motivator," she said.
By the numbers
According to the National Foster Parent Association, there are more than 500,000 children in foster care in the United States.
Here are the numbers related to foster care in Missouri:
- 11,344 children are in foster care.
- 7,904 families are licensed to care for them.
- 4.2 is the average number of foster homes a child will live in while he is in state care.
- 15 percent of children in care will be placed in facilities other than a family foster home.
- 2.3 years is the average length of time a child spends in foster care.
- $271 is the monthly state reimbursement to foster parents of a 2-year-old.
- $322 is the reimbursement for a 9-year-old.
- $358 is the reimbursement for a 16-year-old.
- $627, $719 and $788, respectively, is what is needed to meet the actual costs for caring for the three different age levels, according to a national study that set the minimum adequate rates for children. Those amount to increases of 131 percent, 123 percent and 120 percent, respectively, to the current rate of reimbursement.
