Hellobee Boards

I think maybe you are misunderstanding what they are saying (or maybe not haha).

You can’t just “sign up for welfare” in that way. I have friends who foster and they receive WIC on behalf of the foster children ONLY; they wouldn’t qualify for any assistance programs as a family (I mean, like if those kids were their bio kids they wouldn’t qualify for any aid). It’s part of the benefit package from the state, specifically for fostering. It's not "getting on welfare". Hope this makes sense.

Like both the pp have said, it's completely for & based upon the foster child being in your home & isn't about "you" qualifying.

I have a cousin that her & her husband were foster parents and ultimately adopted some of the children they fostered. I do know that despite wanting to, they didn't adopt one of them b/c the medical needs she had required them to need the state benefits package that came with her being fostered and they would lose it if she were adopted. She's an adult now and still calls my cousin her parents & sees them as her family regardless of them having legally adopted her or not.

@Mrs. Jacks: ditto Mrs. Jacks. My parents fostered my brothers before adopting, and those programs were for the boys, not for my parents. It's not about taking advantage of anything.

WIC isn't welfare...it's food. And ditto everyone above. It's for the kids, since even though they're under your roof, they're still under state assistance. I think some states also help provide medical insurance for these children, too, until you adopt them.

I also think the amount a foster family gets in WIC food and the supplement is not enough to cover the cost of a child, so they are definitely using their own money as well. I'm sure it depends on the state, but in Texas where I used to live, the supplement is $450 a month.

One of my teacher friends was a foster parent for kids who were temporary, and had no chance of adoption (sometimes they are harder to place). Sometimes she would have them just a few months, until the courts allowed their parents to take them back, sometimes she would have them longer.

But since she would take any age up to 8th grade, sometimes she would have young ones that needed day care while she was at work, and although she had support from her retired parents (her mom would watch her foster kid a couple times a week, she still had to pay for daycare the other days, and that's probably that whole stipend right there, nevermind clothes or other items they might need.

I'm guessing there aren't enough well-off, two parents familes with stay-at-home moms that want to be foster parents--because she was definitely in demand enough to always have a foster kid.

More importantly, she was really good at it, too! She would get them tutors, work hard to get them caught up to grade level in the development, get them involved in activites/clubs. I kinda want to be like her.

@Anagram: she sounds awesome!