How much do you get paid to foster a child?

It differs from state to state due to cost of living and just politics i guess. You should call social services and request more information. I know in my state I called to get more information and they have meetings once a week for prospective foster parents, and they answer any and all questions and explain the program.

Foster care does not pay much at all.

Look at this link: It has it by state So find your state and the age.

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/foster-care-maintenance-payments.pdf

They don't pay much, especially when you consider the cost of food, clothing, etc. Be careful though....as a foster parents you need to be prepared to have the child removed from your home at any time. You could have a child for a week and then said child is returned to it's bio parents.....you could have a child for several years and then said child is returned home or moved to another foster home. It's almost impossible to be really prepared for that possibility and, at least for us, impossible to care for a child every day and not grow to love that child immensly....which is why we won't foster.

My sister does foster care and has a 4 month old and his 3 year old sister. I think she get over $1000 a month because the little girl is labeled special ed. She receives speech and physical therapy. You get more for special ed children. She also receives wic which helps pay for some if the formuala. Social services also pays for some of the child care. My sister deffinetly pays alot out of her own pocket to raise these kids, but of course she doesn't care, she is hoping to adopt them. My sister also can not have children so that is why she is in the foster to adopt program. The litle girl has been in foster care for about a year, she has only been with my sister since September and her brother since August (she got him right from the hospitol when he was born). The little girl is about to be put up for adoption since she has been in forster care for so long and things are looking good for my sister.

The baby will be available for adoption in April. We are keeping our fingers crossed. My sister had a new born baby last year that was taken from her when that baby was 6 monthes old. An aunt decided that she wanted her. My sister was devistated because things were lookiing good for her in that case too, but she never gave up and hopefully these two children that she has now will be hers forever.

Please understand the object of foster care is to re-unite the family. Its not to terminate the rights for adoption. You need to be prepared that other family member may step up to take the child & its their right to request to do so. Things can happen quickly.

You dont get paid as much as they pay for the child's needs so you dont go broke paying for a child that chances are you are not getting to keep.

If you cant afford to be a stay at home mom now, you wont be able to afford it just because you fostered.

Depends on the state and at least in Pennsylvania, it also depends on the county.

Raeann thanks for the chart. That was packed with really interesting information.
OP you have to remember that foster parents are babysitting for the state and the state can give the children back to the parents, to relatives or to a different foster parent at any time.

I've fostered for 8 years. The first 6 as a single parent and the last 2 with my dh. Yes they do pay you but if you do it right you're sure not going to get rich doing it. I've known some parents that take in several kids for the money and yes they do make money doing it. They buy all the kids clothes used, food and that's it. Bare minimum. This is not the norm. The majority will pay quite a bit of money out of their own pockets for the kids. If you're wanting to be a stay at home mom with them then you'll need to really budget what they give you. Buy clothes on sale, get them on WIC, etc. Make that money stretch which can be done. I buy school supplies in July when they go on sale and stock up on everything I might need in the next year when it's .19/glue, etc. I also buy new coats when on cleareance for $5 and store. I actually have storage bins with new clothes in different sizes.