[jhtcct]

Does anyone know anything about how the subsidy is going since the starting of the new fiscal year? I know CPS was offering NO subsidy through the summer months because they were broke and I was wondering if anyone has heard anything else since then.

[saucey95]

The last thing we heard in our class in July was that the subsidy was being decreased from about $519/month to around $500 but may be even less. They were still getting a confirmed amount from the state.
You could try calling your caseworker to see what developments there have been.

***UPDATE***
I went online to find the actual foster care rates and found them. These are effective September 1, 2003 - August 31, 2004. These are "the minimum amounts that a child-placing agency must reimburse its foster families for clients receiving services under a contract with the Department." ---taken directly from website.
If you'd like to verify on the website,
http://www.tdprs.state.tx.us/Adoptio..._reimbursement

Service Level Minimum Daily Amount

Basic $20.00
Moderate $35.00
Specialized $45.00

I hope that helps!

[DayByDay]

My husband and I are very excited about becoming foster parents, but we can't start any of the orientation meetings this month because of his work schedule. So I figured I'd get as much info from you guys since you obviously should know the answers. One question we have is about the subsidy for the fc. I've been getting conflicting information from people in different states. One person says that f parents receive 2 checks each month, one for supplies for the child and one for help with utilities etc. But another person says that there's only one check. We're financially stable, but we don't have a lot of money to spare. So we want to know how much the state will help so that we can plan ahead. We can hardly wait to be able to open our home and our hearts to a child in need of a family, and we would welcome all the info we can get.

[jhtcct]

Daybyday, are you referring to the foster payments or the adoption subsidy payments? The foster payments we were receiving two payments a month. I've never heard it broken down as per supplies/utilities. For a level one/two child, the payments are minimum $20/day. We received a clothing voucher every three months to cover clothes which was $60 for an infant. We just finalized on the adoption on our little girl (2.5) and she classified as special needs (over the age of 2 and a minority) so we negotiated our monthly adoption subsidy. The adoption subsidy check is once a month. I hope this answered your questions. What part of the state are you located in?

[DayByDay]

Thanks jhtcct. I think that answered my question. We're in the Dallas area. We wanted to start this month, but it looks like we'll have to wait until January. I could only find 3 meetings this month. One is today, and the other 2 are on Tuesdays. He'd have to take a day off in order to go to either of those. But I guess that gives us another month to find more info. Thanks again.

[stepforone]

We are in East TX and we get one check per month. It comes in about the 10th of the month. It's now for $20 day/per basic level child. It depends on the county if you get additional funds for clothes, or an allowance for the children. I have never received additional money monthly for clothes. I've had them give me a $125 allowance when a child first comes into care and then no more funds for clothes, I've gotten $75 per quarter for some and another gets no clothing allowance. One got $10/month for an allowance (she was an infant so I didn't know what to spend it on!). Some counties give a yearly clothing allowance and some give a coat allowance. It really depends what county in TX you are getting a child from. You really would have to ask someone from the county you plan to foster in to get a complete answer. But then as you can see, just because you live in one county doesn't mean you'll get your children from there. We haven't gotten any children from the county we live in, we've gotten 3 placements from 3 different surrounding counties so far. Good luck.

[DayByDay]

Wow! A whole $10??? Did you go on a shopping spree?

I guess we had better get ready to tighten our belts..lol

[DeafiesMexBabe]

my fiancee and I are very interested in becoming foster parents and we live in Austin. We're both CPAs and so we travel quite a bit and haven't been able to attend any orientation meetings. I'm in PA right now and have been away from Austin for 2 months and will be gone next spring to Ireland for another 2 months. Then when I get back my fiancee will be gone for a month and a half to Atlanta. One of us is always in Austin all the time, but will that be a problem for foster parenting? We don't travel during the summer and fall but are gone quite a bit in the spring and late winter during busy season. We will get married next August and this summer we would like to get started on the foster parenting sessions and training. Also, what can I expect to learn in an orientation session? What is a CPS? What are the different levels of children and what do they mean? We are looking to foster Deaf children (my fiancee is Deaf) between the ages of 1 and 5 yrs. I was told that fostering through a private agency is preferable. Why? We want to adopt a Deaf child, but not until we have our own children. Probably 8 or 9 yrs from now. In the meantime we want to foster. I have so many questions!

[stepforone]

CPS = Child Protective Services or Texas Dept. of Protective and Regulatory Services. Call them first because I know in our area they want people to be married for a year or two before fostering. You can be single and do it but if you are married they want your relationship stable before adding this stress to the mix. And it can be stressful! My dh works out of the country and it didn't bother CPS at all that he was gone half the year. But I am a stay-at-home mom so I'm the stablility for the children. I don't know how they would feel about both of you travelling so much. But the best way would be to call and ask them your questions.

Private agencies sometimes have the older or more difficult to foster children (medical needy or handicapped) because they have more time (I think) to supervise and train.