[BellaAurora66]

My husband and I became an approved foster care home to accept my 4 yr old nephew for foster/kinship care from the State of FL - through an ICPC. He arrives in 2 days and I still do not feel we have proper information.

Is it true that foster children do not automatically get childcare vouchers? I work and he needs to go to daycare. I have the CCCI paperwork, but there is a waiting list until next July - by then we will probably have adopted him (TPR is finished). In FL they automatically receive this benefit without waiting - nice isn't it.

What other benefits, beyond medical ins., does a foster child get and where/who should I contact? Our local county caseworker hasn't provided that information, if there is any, yet.

Thank You!

Bella

[dakotabluebaby]

from what I know...which isn't a ton.

In PA they do not symptomatically get day care, BUT you can sign up to get vouchers, BUT there is a waiting list. You should receive the health care and daily rate, possibly a clothing stipend and outside of that...Good luck.

I am so Glad you are able to get your nephew so quickly!

[meshsgrl]

I am in Pa. I am not sure how it works since it is kinship care. I would assume, you would get the monthly stipend, medicare, and WIC. My agency first told me there is no way I can get childcare when I was working, now that I am NOT working they tell me I could get it but there is a waiting list.
You might be able to switch to a private agency and get more assistance if that is what you need. I have found that the county social workers are not always helpful and it varies greatly from social worker to social worker!

Hopefully this will help you!!

[MissS]

Hi Bella,

The information that you are getting is unfortunately accurate. We just took in FS, and were told the earliest we could get childcare subsidy is May. FC's are placed on the same list as people on welfare, etc, and go to the bottom of the list, and according to my CCIS worker, there just isn't any money, so they have to wait for someone to lose their funding, a child to age out, etc.
I'm sorry it's not better news, but as PP's said, you can get healthcare, WIC, and daily subsidy. Good luck to you!

[BellaAurora66]

Since we are getting my nephew from the State of Florida - thru ICPC - FL pays his subsidy ($429.00 per month) and will retain jurisdiction - Youth and Children services will oversee his placement, in PA, and report back to Florida - monthly. I know my nephew will continue to receive medicare, just need to reapply in PA, I have not checked about the WIC. Kinship care works the same as Foster Care - we had to be a licensed foster home and he would be eligible for all foster child benefits - which are not much, obviously!

Thank you SO much for all your help - this is so new to us and we wanted to make sure we get all the information - it is difficult dealing with 2 States - each points the finger to the other State when it comes to trying to get answers.

My nephew will be here tomorrow, Oct. 30th, evening - we are ready!

[basimah]

I don't know what part of PA you're in but the waitlist for the subsidised childcare through CCIS is in Philly generally around 3 months, sometimes sooner. I know they tell people it's a lot longer. It all depends on when the state releases the funds. So even if you have to pay out of pocket at first, you'll eventually get funded. I think for foster children, your income doesn't count when it comes to eligibility and copay amount, just the fostercare payment for that child. I don't know how they would view a preadopt placement though.

[BellaAurora66]

We are in York County. I have received the application from CCIS - I just need to sit down and fill it out. I know that they told me that the waiting list is backed up until June/July 2009 - because they do not get more funding until then.

I will submit the application and see what happens - I am pretty sure that my nephew will be my son before we get a voucher - but you never know.

Thank you!