Are State Governments Reimbursing Foster Parents Enough?

An eye-opening story appeared in Wednesday’s newspapers that begs the question of whether state governments are adequately reimbursing foster parents to care for children. The nationwide study is the first to calculate for each state what researchers are calling the Minimum Adequate Rates for Children (the Foster Care “MARC”).

The study produced by the University of Maryland School of Social Work, the National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) and the advocacy group Children’s Rights showed that Kentucky was ahead of most states in the country when it comes to adequately reimbursing foster parents. That’s great news for our foster parents and the children in their care!

Since there is no federal “minimum wage” for foster parents, it’s left up to the states to decide how much they are going to reimburse foster parents to care for kids in state custody. The MARC is based on the monthly cost estimate for providing food, shelter, school supplies, daily supervision, clothing, personal incidentals and liability insurance.

Only Arizona and the District of Columbia “hit the MARC.” That means, according to the researchers, they’re reimbursing foster parents enough. The study said Kentucky was paying above the MARC for children 0-4 years old ($569 per month) but needed to increase payments for those 5-13 years old by 9 percent (to $652 per month) and for those 14-18 years old by 8 percent (to $715 per month).

Kentucky’s amount of compensation, coupled with training and 24/7 support services that Sunrise offers foster parents leaves most of ours satisfied. But consider the children in Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, which have reimbursement rates that must be more than doubled in order to hit their MARCs.

“The bottom line is that when these rates don’t reflect the real expenses that foster parents face, it’s the children who suffer,” the NFPA’s executive director, Karen Jorgenson, told The Associated Press for its story. And these are the children who already have suffered enough due to abuse, neglect and removal from their homes.

What can happen if foster parents aren’t adequately compensated? Without a large enough foster parent pool, children are more likely to go through multiple placements – decreasing their chances of ever having a permanent home and slowing their healing process.

The study urges federal and state lawmakers to adopt the MARC amounts for each state. You can view the entire report at http://www.nfpainc.org/uploads/MARCTechReport.pdf. What do you think? Give us your comments.