By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010 SALT LAKE CITY — Pet owners pay more to board a dog for a day than the state of Utah pays foster parents to house, clothe and feed a child, and some say the latest cuts in reimbursement money will force willing parents out of the system.
A legislative committee heard earlier this week that many foster care families may be forced to leave the system because daily funding per child has been cut so deeply. The latest cuts took effect July 1, with the average payment per child per day now at $14 to $19, depending on age. Average pet boarding fees per day range from $20 to $25, according to Jennifer Gardner, president of the Utah Foster/Adoptive Families Association.
Gardner said foster families approached for this story declined to be identified, but one shared her story.
“Wendy” and her husband have been foster parents to children of all ages for 10 years, but when her husband lost his job a few months ago, she had to return to work. Even after he found another job, she had to keep working to pay the bills, and they continued to pay out more in expenses to care for their foster children than they received from the state.
They agonized over what to do and finally “had to ask that the children be removed from their home at the beginning of summer because they couldn’t afford to do it anymore,” Gardner said. “They’re devastated. It was their life, and they loved doing it. But when it came down to it they had to choose between providing for their own family and providing for foster kids.”
Nikki MacKay, director of retention services for the Utah Foster Care Foundation, told the state’s Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel that foster parents simply can’t provide for the needs of children at the current reimbursement rate.
“Many want to provide the service, but they’re reaching the point where they don’t know if they will be able to do it any longer,” she said. “Within the last two years, some of the reimbursement rates have been cut up to 10 percent.”
When asked how many families have stopped providing care, MacKay said there are no hard numbers at this point. “They didn’t necessarily stop providing care July 1. … These are the type of people that won’t just send these kids back. I do know of some who are no longer renewing their licenses (as foster parents) as of now.”
More than 2,800 Utah children are in foster care, a large percentage of them housed by 1,400 licensed foster care families who have been through a training program provided by the state.
Rep. Trisha Beck, D-Sandy, said she sympathizes with foster families, who try to incorporate the children they take in as part of their regular household routine. “I know there are additional costs that may not be anticipated. It would be really sad not to celebrate a child’s birthday or Christmas with that child” because the family budget won’t stretch far enough to cover those or other expenses, like after-school sports or regular school activities.
MacKay said even school supplies and clothing are often difficult for foster parents to afford at the current reimbursement rate.
Brent Platt, the new director of the Division of Child and Family Services, said when officials can’t place children in state custody with licensed foster care families, they do try to work with extended family members. But often the children are placed with proctor agencies in a group setting geared toward specific treatment approaches, even if they don’t require it. That’s more costly for taxpayers, he said.
Children ages 7 to 10 who have been seriously sexually and/or physically abused are constantly an issue for DCFS, he said. “It’s very difficult to find families for them,” because of the emotional issues involved. “That is so much work, and there’s not a lot of support for those who do it.”
MacKay said with the funding cuts, foster care reimbursement in Utah is back to the same level it was in 2007.
“The average cut was 3 percent across the board, but there are different levels of foster care,” she said. “Some levels (for children ages 6 to 15) weren’t cut at all, while others were cut almost 7 percent. I’m not sure how that determination was made.”
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden and the committee chairman, apologized to MacKay more than once during her testimony for the dismal reimbursement rate. He said it was one budget item that legislators will look at again as state revenues begin to rebound.
“Children do get a lot of sympathy from the Legislature,” Christensen said. “Their well-being is very important to us. But when you don’t have a nickel, you can’t spend a dollar, unlike the federal government.”
Gardner said foster parents will be approaching legislators not only to ask for more funding, but also to get their approval to allow foster children to qualify for food stamps.
“Then parents would not be taking as much out of their own pockets. … It would almost allow us to break even with how much we pay out to be foster parents,” she said.
e-mail: carrie@desnews.com
