How Much Does It Cost To Do Foster Care? Single Foster Parent
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- How much does it cost to do foster care? It may cost you a l little financially, but the emotional and time costs are enormous! This is especially difficult for a single foster parent.
I probably could make a little money from foster care subsidy money if I didn't enjoy activities with my kids, enjoy buying them nice clothes, and taking them out to eat for the occasional dinner.
However, not only single foster parents, but all foster parents need to count the cost and ask themselves, "How much does it cost to do foster care?" The cost is not just about money. That said, caring for kids from hard places (foster kids) is a beautiful way to have an impact on the world! Making a difference with each foster kids and their biological family can be one of the most difficult things a foster parent does, but it is worth it!
If you have more questions about foster care adoption, foster parenting, building trust through connected parenting, are interested in becoming a foster family, foster adopt information, hearing more of our adoption story, what it is like to be a single dad, working with kids from hard places, and much more, please consider subscribing to our channel.
If you are a family, a single mother, or a single father providing foster care, or if you are interested in providing foster care, please feel free to email me with your questions at Letsgodad777@gmail.com
We love supporting you through this foster adopt/foster adoption journey!
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Nick Mastin
You lose money....sleep..your sanity...patience...it makes me crazy when people say we do it for money...it's not money...these children need us...help us help them!
I loved the last line “don’t let the finances stop you from making a positive impact on the world”. Many thanks for your advices!
This is the first time an experienced foster parent has mentioned emotional eating as the adult. I will definitely remember that part. Thank you!
You should look into together we rise, an organization that supports foster parents. They Help with clothes etc. I donate to them...I can't be a foster parent but this way I can help in my own way
I understand that foster parents have limited funds but I prefer to think of the money spent as an investment in a just and compassionate society which cares about children whose bio-parents are unable to parent.
I love the way you think!
I’m a single foster parent in Texas and I find that to have the kids on a schedule is the best medicine, along with meal prep
I am also in Texas and looking into fostering.
I am in the woodlands by Houston. Trying to choose an agency
What you said is absolutely true. We just had a placement of three siblings and it has cost us thousands.
I'm single and exploring fostering and I found this so helpful, thank you! :)
Same here. I am in Texas.
Grew up with foster sisters.
Glad I found you!!
This is great🎉
Are you able to go to work or are you able to stay home with the kiddos?
I would be a single parent home too.
Did you start? I’m also in Texas. @@lolybird77
I lost weight when I first had my 2 kids come in, but it wasn’t long and I was putting the weight on because of stress lol.
Not sure if you have one but a video about self care for us the care givers is an important idea! I think we are always so focused on everyone outside we don’t look inside to make sure we are okay too.
If you want to get into foster care to make money and/or get rich, look elsewhere. Don't use a child for your personal gain. They struggle enough as it is, don't make it worse.
I don't mind spending money on kids at all, I just need to get myself out of debt first.
I start my training soon 😊🤞🏼❤️
Great video. That's kind of what I was wondering because right now I'm almost paycheck to paycheck just by myself, too many bills, can't get them paid off quick enough LOL. Slowly getting things paid off, but its a chore. Price of everything goes up but the paycheck never does. These are the things that people that want to foster need to know. Some sort of idea how much its going to cost to bring these kids in that need a home so bad. Definitely something I want to do but can't do it till I'm financially stable and there's no way a foster care worker would ever allow me to be a foster parent with my income anyways.
It’s something to work towards!
I wonder if two single ppl ever roommate to share the care of house dull of kiddos??
Awesome, This is really Inspiring thank you for this. Really Considering being a foster parent in the future. as a single foster parent like yourself. :) love that positive message you shared. thank you! :)
I'm interested in becoming a foster mom. Thanks for the inspiration
I also do McDonald’s at first. Or Roman, spaghettios, country time lemonade. These are things we keep on hand. I also grab pajamas and basic comfy clothes as they are on clearance or on sale. I always have scent free toiletries on hand and diapers and pull ups. We foster birth to 5 yr
Good insightful video Nick and Robert👍🙂
Thank you! People keep asking so I figure it’s nice if I can point them to a video. 🙂
I a pretty sure, that your friends and family doesn’t care, if you gain a bit of weight for every child, that leaves your home! That just showed how invested you are in them and how much you care for them and I am sure, that is what your friends also see that! And that’s how it should be, these kids need more than worldly things a stable parent that loves and supported them unconditionally! A stable and loving home is so much more important for kids, than to have nice things and clothes. Sure clothes are also important, so they don’t get bullied in school. But normally I think finances shouldn’t be a problem, if you really wanna do foster care and I don’t know, why the standards for the kids aren’t higher, you should get enough money to get good clothes for the kids ne also everything else they need and also being able to don’t work so much, so the foster parents have enough time for the kids. And I would say it it difficult to foster, so if anything all finances should be covered. But I also think to much payment could also bring bad people into foster care, that are only in for the money. So there are two sides to that.
very honest and transparent! we had a target range of 3-8 but then had an infant placed with us. we spend every cent of that subsidy for a loooong time. Which is fine but yeah…we weren’t profiting financially as people think we do
I’m glad there are people like you. I couldn’t do it! I would get attached to them and wouldn’t want them to leave! The money issue doesn’t surprise me. The government in this country is not child friendly in any way.
Thank-you!
Thanks for a practical assessment! My employment hasn't been stable, which is a little hard on morale and life plans. Currently, I've decided Covid provided the chance to officially leave my old career, and look for a new career here in middle age, but I'm not quite there yet, still doing part-time work and saving for retraining. I still have hope to have a family and be a family to someone, but it'll need to wait a bit longer. I wondered if you or any of your foster parent friends have ever experienced job loss while being responsible for children in your home, how you safeguard against that, etc. (I'm glad you're a pastor. Among other blessings, it seems like that guarantees you a warm loving supportive work environment!)
My pleasure! Switching jobs requires a little bit of paperwork for most foster care agencies. If you don't have a job (or lose a job) that could lead to problems... or children being removed from your care as it is a requirement of foster care in almost all states that you be employed.
The thought of losing a job when foster children were in my home scared me as well. I would hope they would have a little bit of a grace period before removing a child. Fortunately, that hasn't happened to me or anyone I know. The only foster parent I knew who was laid off from a job , found another job almost immediately.
Adding to the thread... Where I am, it does not really matter if caregivers are employed or not. What matters is that they are ready and able to foster. I'd been out of work for almost two years when I first decided to foster and actually it helped because I was available for the children 24/7. I was able to do that because I had room for them and a pile of savings to fall back upon if I needed, and I was okay about spending my own money to make it happen. But I do know of many other caregivers who are not financially independent in that they are effectively state beneficiaries and they do a great job fostering kids. Might be worthwhile having a conversation with an agency or state foster official about it. At the very least fostering, or a calling to foster, becomes a powerful personal "WHY", it helps as a motivator to push into the new path you choose....there's nothing stopping you from at least making that first telephone call and to see where that leads you.
@@chrisjury6931 thanks! Wow, your story is inspiring!
I've been working in a sort of narrow field, where I lost jobs a few times, and almost every time, had to move to find another job - once, 1000 miles away. Being single, there was no partner or 2nd income nor much savings yet; it was just up to me to hustle and find something new. It was really depressing, and humiliating - you can see in their eyes, people tend to assume bad things about you when you lose a job (that you have criminal behavior, an addiction, etc), and that's awful. I don't know the real reasons it happened so much, but it seemed to be a combo of institution money problems, some crises happening to people in my life, and my refusal to be unethical when pressured by some bosses. In any case, I'm actually glad I didn't drag any kids through all that.
So lately, I've been voluntarily unemployed 9 months to minimize COVID risks in the family (no unemployment benefits, just using savings to get by). It's given me time to think about what would make my life work better. I'm hoping to change to different work with more support, even if the income is much lower. My house also needs lots of repairs that I can't afford yet. But I'm soon starting some new entry-level jobs, and I might get involved with a mentoring program for foster kids, which is something I could do even if I can't yet foster myself. I keep telling myself, we give in the ways we can.
this might sound weird. I am single, right now I am taking care of my mother, her health is not good.. We were talking the other day about what I am going to do when she passes away. I have been taking care of my mother and working that their will be a huge void in my life. So I am thinking about adopting or fostering children. strange thing is I am not a kid person, so I am not sure which route I take.
You might not be a kid person, but have you considered taking in teens? There are a lot of really cool teens in the foster system! We have had some really neat ones in our home.
I have been caring for my mom and now she is gone.
I was trying to get her to do it with me. She gave me "are you crazy" eyes lol
Think it could have been good for her!!!
Is there a way to get insurance in case (or reimbursements, if not insurance) if a foster kid smashes up your whole home to a point where it becomes inhabitable (i.e. breaks all your doors and windows or sets fire to it) and you have no means to get it fixed?
First, I want to express how rare something like this is. In my opinion you are much more likely to give notice on a child long before it escalates to this point. Some people may disagree, and I respect that, but the child you are describing probably needs a higher level of treatment than a foster home can provide. They need constant supervision and near daily therapy.
That said, I've heard of this happening once in my time providing care. The family took a high level teen for the extra subsidy and then, when he showed significant destructive behaviors, didn't give notice because they relied on that money for income. Still, if I understand correctly, while the teen did some damage before this incident, it took a long time before he got to the point where he smashed up their entire house. In their case I believe homeowners insurance had to cover the cost.
For me, if a new placement comes in and begins to do something like this, our police department can be here in 3-7 minutes. There is only so much damage they can do in that time.
Second, I hate recommending this, but don't take a child with a history of fire setting without verifying that your homeowners/rental insurance will cover damages if he starts a fire! My understanding is that most policies only cover this if there is no documented history of fire setting.
Third, homeowners insurance should cover the type of damage you describe. It is worth a call to find out. If yours does not, I know there are ones that do. Nobody wants to deal with this, but honestly, it is why almost all agencies check to make sure you have insurance before certifying you.
Fourth, one county I worked with had a policy that they would cover up tp $500 worth in damages. I think this is rare, but it would be worth checking with your agency.
*Please take what I say here with a grain of salt as my friends and I have never experienced this level of destruction!
Yeah, it must be rare. Only heard of 1 similar case here in the UK (where a teen girl took a bat through the whole house) and that family was denied insurance cover. Was just wondering how it's handled in the US.
In my country the Government is responsible for foster children, and in cases where damage occurs they come to the table to help with the cost. Behavior does happen, and based on my experience with one placement, it can come out of nowhere and last for several hours. Twice I had lots of stuff broken and damaged and although at the time It was stressful to watch the child act out their feelings in such a destructive way, I reflected that the child did not have control over themselves and at the end of the day, it's just stuff. What needed to be fixed was fixed, and some broken stuff (some of which was very sentimental and irreplaceable) couldn't be and was binned, but I got over the loss. Sadly the child needed to leave the placement to get help with the behaviors and I found myself immediately missing them a thousand times more than I miss the stuff that was damaged.
Make sure you have house and contents insurance or the landlord does and is made aware you are fostering if you rent. It is best that the insurer is made aware that you are fostering so they cannot deny a claim based on failure to notify them of an additional "risk".
HELLO MISTER: Sir, you can subtitle your videos to Spanish or make an exclusive video in Spanish to find out about your adoption experience ... Greetings from Argentina
Hola Tobías! Soy de Guatemala y también me cuesta encontrar videos sobre estas experiencias fuera de los EEUU. Las experiencias en Latinoamérica suelen ser muy distintas, no? Si encuentras algo y lo compartes, genial!
@Let’sGoDad my sister is a translator if you ever need someone to help you with your videos and the Spanish subtitles.
@@rodrigobarillas hola josé mira aqui en argentina es muy dificil, solo hay 3 casos de hombres solteros que han podido adoptar. En argentina es muy, pero muy dificio adoptar...mi pregunta es que te interesaria saber, yo te puedo ayudar en recopilar informacion de lo que se.
Here’s a video on how to do just that.
m.czcams.com/video/8MUQ1-JYTa4/video.html
@@alicetheegreet gracias muchas gracias thanks
What about thrift store shopping?
lol idk what your kid just said? media time?
Don’t waste your time with this video it is just like alllll the others. He didn’t say how much. What is the problem with saying how much it pays. My God we know they pay something can’t you guys that makes these type of videos give a number. We know every situation and child is different so the pay is different but what about a round about figure. Another waste of time
The information is available online.