[Nicole Elaine]

We're in Bristol, Indiana and are almost done with the homestudy process.

Because our county doesn't cover daycare costs, we will be paying for it out of our foster children's per diem, and I'm just curious.... about how much does daycare cost? We aren't sure what ages we'll have yet. We said we'll take infant to age 10, and we were told most of them would be school age, from about age 6-10. So many people say they spend more than their per diem, and we do really want to foster, but not if the daycare is going to cause us to go broke! lol

Can anyone give me a general idea how much we're looking at for before/after school care? And how much for kids who are too young to be in school? I was going to call some local places but felt stupid since it's all "potential" and we don't even have the children's ages yet.

Thanks!

[tpakra]

Here in Lafayette, daycare runs anywhere between $80-150/week. That's for a child who is there full time. I'm not sure what they would charge for before/after school.

[lakin11]

I'm in Indy...I charge $150/week for my niece. It averages out to $30/day. Obviously more than the per diem. Are you SURE the county won't pay for daycare? I thought that all foster kids qualified. Maybe its just our county. I've been trying to find the info for Christina too.
I know here, the range can be $80-200 a week. My sister in law was pay $200/wk when my niece was an infant (up to 12 months). Then it would have dropped down to $160/wk after she turned one. Plus you have to provide all diapers, formula, etc to the daycare. She was even providing the jar baby food. Food was provided for kids once they were able to eat table food. As for before/after school, my SIL only did after school w/ my nephew and was paying $30/week for him to stay at the program at the school. He was going to a center for a few years and that was $50/week b/c they transported him from school to the daycare center. Again, Indy..may not be as much other places.
Good luck finding info!
Shannon

[Nicole Elaine]

Wow, $30 a day? Yea that would eat up the per diem real fast...

Yea, our licensing coordinator said she's 100% sure they won't pay for it. I'm curious though, maybe I will call the county to check. She is in charge of licensing for this particular agency, but I wonder if she is wrong on this one. Thanks to both of you for the responses, I had no idea it was THAT much!

[Nicole Elaine]

Good news and bad news.

Good news: I called a few places and most of them charge $5-$10/hour for before and after school care.

Bad news: We live in a somewhat rural area and it's VERY hard to find a daycare which isn't 10-15 miles out of the way. I was trying to avoid having to drag the kids out of bed at 5 or 6 in the morning, but since I have to be to work (right by my home) at 7, I'm not sure if it can be avoided. I'm thinking it may be better if I talk to my boss and just go in later and leave earlier. I guess we'll see!

[LibbyHawkins]

what I pay, 180 a week for two kids. In home, not licensed. There are a total of 5 kids there, including her own 2. She is really a great lady and I feel very lucky to have her help.

In looking, you should be able to find reasonable childcare rates that you are happy with, just keep looking. Before that i paid 220 a week for both, still pretty reasonable and she was licensed.

Now my CW gave me a referral for a "voucher" so I could get the oldest enrolled in a Pre-school program. Obviously in home care probably don't accept those???? The caseworker told me that they take foster children from the wait list 1st and that the wait to date was less than 2 months. So if you found something temporary, that might work for you. I too am in Marion County. Indianapolis that is. My daycare lady is just a few miles from my home in Brownsburg(a bit of a "rural" area.

[TBearsAunt]

It would be a good idea for anyone needing day care to contact their County's ICAP office. I was able to get funding for my foster child without regard to my income because he had been "in the system." The catch is funding is limited so you might have to be persistent. Anyway, it never hurts to ask.

[Nicole Elaine]

Thank you for the advice! I will try both of those ideas!

[willydeedilly]

I think I remember reading that a foster child can only stay in a licensed daycare facility. Reason one is because of the voucher pay system and reason two was that a foster child can only be left with a licensed foster parent or a licensed daycare facility. No dropping off with a friend or family while running errands kind of thing.

[V8 Momma]

You may want to look into child care subsidies. Not sure what the agency in your area would be that handles that- I suggest calling the welfare office and just ask who to call about childcare assistance. Where I live they did use SEIOC then it changed to River Valley Recources. You can try to call them 800-596-9273 they may be able to point you in the right direction for your county. When you get to the right office, make sure to tell them this is for FOSTER KIDS- you may get bumbed to the front of any waiting list (we did). We were told by DCS that the county (meaning DCS) does not pay for child care but then I found that foster kids could get subsidy this way. Good luck!