How much money do you get for fostering a child?

Question

I was just curious. Thank you!

Answer 1

Maintenance payments differ depending upon location, the age of the child, the number of children being fostered, the type of placement, and other factors.  This link will give you a general guideline for foster care stipends in the U.S.  The information is from 2007, but it is still useful.

http://www.nysccc.org/boardrates/statera...

Gaia is right, though.  When I was a social worker, all of the foster parents with whom I worked stated that they often spent beyond the stipend to meet the child's needs. It's not like babysitting.  The money is not payment for services rendered.  It is money to be used specifically for the child's needs.

Answer 2

It ranges by states...but it can be anywhere from $200-$1000 a month depending on the age of the child and if the child is "more difficult" or has special needs.

That being said.  DO NOT FOSTER FOR MONEY.  If you do that, you are scum.

Caring for a child requires more than $650 a month (~$21 per day). I had foster parents tell me that "they had to wait for the check" before I could get a new pair of shoes or get a birthday present.  That kills a child.

Fostering is NOT about money....it's about helping a child in need.

EDIT:  Thumbs down????  You ******* greedy people.  A kid needs love, caring, and "things."   The money from the system barely covers food for a child.  If you foster for money, you are PART OF THE PROBLEM, not the solution.  s***w you.

Answer 3

Let me tell you that it's not a lot.  Way less than it takes to raise a child.  I live in Missouri, which is one of the lowest paying states for foster children.  The only way you could ever live off it is to take career children, and that's a horrible reason to take a child who needs help.

Answer 4

You get less than enough to care for the child.  Fostering is not a job.  If you're looking into it to make money, you're looking in the wrong place.  If you're asking if you can afford to foster, you might be able to if you're great at budgeting.  The check they give you does not cover everything you'll need to care for a child.

Answer 5

If you are really Nick Jonas's sweetheart, you don't need the money.

If you are thinking about money as a condition for fostering a child, STOP.  Get a job instead.  A child is NOT an income.

Answer 6

Foster care is NOT a job... you have to actually be really cruel to think in that way. Shame on you. If you want money find another way.