[UTbrie]

To all the single foster parents or foster parents that both work full time:

How do you afford daycare/childcare for kids that are not schoolage yet? From what I have been told by the SW's, most counties no longer can afford to pay for daycare as well as the normal foster care stipend. I already have visited daycare facilities, and they are quite pricey, I could not afford it on my salary alone.

Are there any alternatives for foster children, as in a reduced daycare amount?

I do have my parents as alternate caregivers, and a close friend might become an alternate caregiver too. I thought about asking them to babysit for a reasonable fee that I can afford. That is the only solution I can come up with. Any other ideas/suggestions. My age range is 0-11, but focus on 0-5 or medically needs/fragile.

[aedems]

The daycare costs are tremendous, which is why I have worked from home...and, I know, I'm lucky! Rates around here for 0-2 years of age run $150-175/wk for in-home daycare facilities and $240-280/wk for facility-center daycare. If I used a facility-center daycare, it would be more than my monthly stipend It goes down minimally, maybe $20-40/week once they are over 2, and then usually it is hourly for before and after school care. Infants still require you to send formula, diapers, etc. Toddler-age you still send diapers and generally regular food is provided. Good luck!

[greenrobin]

locally, the cadillac of daycares only costs about $90/wk. They didn't accept the CCMS money, so I paid it from Flowergirl's subsidy.

She was more important to me than the cost. And she loved it there. So, I paid it.

I'd have paid it even if it was more.

And I realize that not everyone can afford it. I'm appalled at the amount you quoted, aedems! How do people there afford to work?

[mommytoEli]

a million years ago when i worked and had a foster baby in daycare, i paid almost double his foster stipend in daycare fees. there were no breaks on tuition, no grants or waivers. i loved him, he was our first baby and it looked like we'd get to adopt him, and so i didn't want him to go to another placement. but i had to work. so i just paid. i would not have chosen to do it again with a new child while working, it was just too much money!

[Newshyde]

I'm in AZ where the state does pay for day care, but not the whole thing. In March they cut the foster care reimbursement by 20 percent and then cut the day care reimbursement for everyone 20 percent too. Not cool. I was paying about $150-170 a month for daycare above what the state was paying. I switched daycares last month and am now paying $100 above what the state pays.
For both times I chose approved in-home day cares and I'm paying for it from the stipend I get. I want to do foster care, but can't afford to not work, so I just do it. If they didn't pay it at all, I don't know what I would do since it would be about the same as the stipend, maybe just a little less and I like to be able to use the stipend money to pay for outings and memberships and sports and such and if the whole stipend had to go to daycare I wouldn't be able to do all the extras I like to do.

[joskimo]

In our state daycare is averaging about $700, our state does pay a flat rate for day care. Some providers - nonprofits mostly - accept the subsidy as paid in full, other's want the fp to pay the balance.

[RNFosterMom]

We are licensed for newborn to age 5. In our county, foster parents caring for kids in this age group are required to have a person home full time to care for the kids. The rules state that the caregiver may work part time "under some circumstances." We are told in training that they really don't want foster kids in daycare as they are considered to be higher needs and wouldn't do as well in daycare. The rules are a bit looser for "foster to adopt" placements in that I think FPs are allowed to work. However, in either situation, our county does not reimburse any daycare or after school care. Our daily foster care rate is a bit over $20/day and any of those expenses would have to come out of that.

If you would need to rely on parents or friends to do childcare, you might want to inquire of your agency/county what the requirements would be for them to be able to provide care. They may be required to do fingerprinting/background check and CPR/car seat/SIDS/shaken baby training, among other things -- all of this is required in my county for anyone doing anything more than occasional babysitting. You could also check into local not-for-profit childcare centers such as churches, YWCA, etc. to see whether scholarships or sliding scale fees might be available.

[aedems]

Originally Posted by greenrobin

locally, the cadillac of daycares only costs about $90/wk. They didn't accept the CCMS money, so I paid it from Flowergirl's subsidy.

She was more important to me than the cost. And she loved it there. So, I paid it.

I'd have paid it even if it was more.

And I realize that not everyone can afford it. I'm appalled at the amount you quoted, aedems! How do people there afford to work?

Our state does supply daycare costs of roughly $110/wk, so an in-home daycare would be roughly $60/wk out of pocket. I have two, so it would be $120/wk out of pocket. That is if you are lucky to find a daycare opening in this area for under the age of 2. Many people have to use the facility centers, which would leave about $130/wk for one. It is a hardship around here and a reason why many moms have decided to stay home. I just wish there were more stay-at-home jobs for people.

[BethanyB]

My state provides a stipend for daycare, even after adoption but they only pay a small portion. The amount also goes down as the kids get older. So although the daycare rate goes down as they age, so does the stipend. My DD is four years old and her daycare charges 850 per month for her care. The state pays 575 and I have to pay the difference.

For infants, many daycare centers charge up to 1200 dollars around here!!! It is crazy!

[wannafostersoon]

Daycare costs are covered here for daycares that are enrolled in the county pay system. The problem is finding providers who are enrolled since what DSS pays is about 30% lower than the "going" rate for child care here in the area. Licensed family providers are charging about between $130 and $175 a week for infants up to age 2 and it goes down incrementally from there based on age. DSS will pay about $90 a week. They will pay more for center based care.

[GAMOM75]

I would try to find a resonable in home provider or one of the church daycare services. They seem to be less expensive. Lucky for us, our state will still pay for preschool. They actually offered to our new foster to adopt placement. But I think it has something to do with FS being delayed in speech and them thinking prechool may actually be a benefit for him. With my bio child, I remember having to pay 1200/mo for preschool!! I could not wait for public school to start!

[momraine]

One thing to note, many daycares will not accept a medically fragile child. They are just not set up for much beyond "normal" needs. Also anyone you use for childcare will probably need to be approved.

[mnmomma]

My state does not pay for any daycare. They require a SAHparent unless you're fost/adopt, so I guess you're less likely to complain if you hope to keep a child forever, right? :-p I was lucky to find a licensed in-home daycare in my area for $200/week - the centers quoted $350/wk. My subsidy came about $150 per month shy of covering the cost. Now that we've adopted our DD and get NO help, I think fondly of that smallish check. :-)

Also, someone else mentioned checking out the YMCA or other similar programs and I'd agree with this. The tough part is that they often have waiting lists, but the sliding scale is based on the child's income ($0), so the cost may be greatly reduced.

Good luck to you!

[SarahBethsMommy]

In Alabama we have what is called CMA (Childcare Managment Agency). They provide help to pay for daycare to low income families (not just foster families) but the foster kids qualify too... no matter our income. So I pay the difference between what CMA pays and what the daycare charges. That comes to $17 a week for full time 6a.m.-6p.m. daycare.

[millie58]

In NY, day care for foster kids is paid by the agency. My providers didn't mind as it was a government agency paying. After adoption, I pay.. It ain't easy!!