This is something that I hear from time to time. I have even had people point blank ask me if I did it for the money. To me, this is very comical since it is the farthest thing from the truth. The truth is the majority of foster parents do not make money by providing foster care, they go into the negative.

In California the cost of raising a child today is $750 a month and the foster care payment is about $494 a month. Some states do not pay that much for foster care, some even pay around $250 or below. The reality is that the state and society is not fully supporting children in foster care and that is falling on the shoulders of the foster parents.

Then what is truly sad is that these foster children need more than our children need because of the abuse, lack of parenting, lack of social skills and behavioral issues. These children struggle with social skills; they need more activities that allow social interaction. Dealing with behavior issues can mean that you will be dealing with damage to your house and other items.

What is really sad is it is cheaper for the state to place foster children in foster homes instead of facilities, but they do not want to help or compensate the foster parents.

The truth is that it can be a struggle for the foster parents to treat foster children as they do their own children, when they are faced with having to take money out of the household budget to cover the expenses of foster children in their home. Foster parents are covering birthday parties, Christmas, sport activities, other extra curricular activities, school pictures, school activities, vacations, outings, clothes, daycare or after school care, toys, books, school supplies, etc. along with their daily care and that is all supposed to be covered by the monthly foster care payment.

So the truth is that there is not money to be made in foster care. A lot more people would be more willing to become foster parents if the expenses of the foster child were covered and not the responsibility of the foster parent.

There are some foster parents that take in children but do not provide for them. These foster parents do use the foster care money for themselves instead of the child.

Related articles at adoption.com:

Financial Reimbursement

Foster Care Rates