[hubbyswife]

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) won't help u w money issues... They are there for the kid's best interest and suppose to report to the judge.

As far as money issue, try goodwill, yard sales, ebay, donations from ppl who have kids and want to get rid of stuff, etc.

Good luck w everything...

[japit823]

CASA is a court apointed advocate, not all children get them. We have our 2 nephews (7 & 10) and are in NJ. This is the third time we have had them. In NJ you can get WIC, which will cover formula till 1 yr, then milk, certain food & juice until the children are 5. It is not a whole lot but it will definatley help. Also, I believe, the child should get free medical. The laws in NJ have changed so much in these seven years. Now eventhough we are kinship placement we get the foster care board rate. 2 years ago before the new laws they had a kinship rate, which isn't even half of the board rate. The first time we had them we had to file for support from the parents. For assistance do alot of searching on the web, there is so much information that I found out there that no one bothered to tell me. Good Luck.

[cgreagor]

Even if I am licensed I do not get any money. Every State differs and Oregon does not pay relatives to take the kids. I will get 125.00 in the beginning for clothing and a medical insurance card for him but then we are on our own. We have put in for WICA (help with basic food items and formula) and another grant we are waiting to hear from. (like pulling teeth to get info on these grants, they do not want us finding out about them)

So frustrating that we are expected to be made of money. We so want this baby but it is expensive to raise kids (we have 3 of our own). The State also told us we will not get money for childcare (lucky for us that is not a factor!) They do not have funding for a CASA worker either! It is so sad that our State cannot find the funding for these children.

Now we are just waiting for the SW to get a simple form to the certifier (should of been done last week) so we can move him into our home. The cousin providing a home for him has now had her phone and internet shut off and cannot even afford his diapers! He has to take a bath in her kitchen sink because they do not have a bathtub.....she is a great person but not in the postition to have him there!

[cgreagor]

Well we have the litte one year old with us now.....it is so great to see him thriving and becoming a part of our family. Still not a lot of help from the State agency, their claim "not enough money to help out family foster parents" We are now going thru WIC and a non-needy relative grant to get some help.
We did get 125.00 emergancy clothing voucher since he did not have enough clothes when we got him but that only lasts so long. Hopefully it will not take forever to go thru these other avenues to get help.
thanks again for all your advice!

[patti Daniels]

I was a kinship foster parent. My niece had two sets of twins. The first set was five years old, a boy and a girl. The second set premie boy and premie girl. I would not assume that the mom to these children probably will not get them back. Pray for her and God to help in this situation. My niece did get them back. She is doing great. We completed the parenting classes and did not receive any compensation. We did have the daycare for the premies paid by the state. I had to pay for daycare for the older twins. I enjoyed every minute of taking care of my great nieces and nephews. My daughter, husband, and I cried when we had to return the children. We get to visit the children once every two to three months. The baby boy and girl are now 8 months old. The older children were excited about seeing us and the baby girl smiled but the baby boy did not remember us. It hurt my heart that the baby boy cried, but this proved he bonded with his mother. My niece attends AA and is excited about being clean. She realizes this is a daily walk. I am so glad for kinship foster parents. This is better for the children. The children do not have to go to a strange home with strangers. I have always thought it was terrible the child had to leave their home and the parent was allowed to stay in the home. I think the parent should leave and the state should hire caregivers to go into the homes. Hope this helps. Thank God you are taking the children and God Bless You. I will pray for you and the children and their mom.

Originally Posted by cgreagor

Hi there, I just found this website and so glad to have you guys here to talk to. We are taking in a 1 year old relative in the next week or so. His mother is in big trouble with drugs and is due with another baby in 2 months. We are taking that little one too!
Is anyone else out there fostering relatives? We are finding that there is not a lot of help from the State when fostering someone in your own family. If we didn't these babies would not be in our family anymore! Their mother is most likely not getting them back (she all ready lost her 10 year old son years ago)
Any advice out there?
thanks so much
Christy