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The cost of kenneling a dog now exceeds what licensed
foster families are paid each month to house, clothe,
feed, and care for foster children.
SAN FRANCISCO (October 3, 2007) – State-licensed
foster parents in California, many of whom receive less
assistance per month from the State than the average
cost of kenneling a dog, filed suit today in federal
district court, challenging the lawfulness of these
low payments under federal law.
The California State Foster Parent Association, Legal
Advocates for Permanent Parenting, California State
Care Providers Association and the Children’s
Advocacy Institute (serving as counsel, with the pro
bono assistance of Morrison & Foerster LLP) filed
the suit, asserting that assistance rates set by the
California Legislature have failed to keep pace with
the California Necessities Index (CNI), a component
of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that has risen 25
percent since 2001. In 2008, the average assistance
per child paid to licensed foster parents will be about
$530 a month.
Citing a recent study from the California Budget Project,
a non-partisan and nonprofit fiscal reform group, the
suit maintains that an average monthly payment of $709
is required for the State to be in compliance with federal
law. A joint report released today by the University
of Maryland School of Social Work and the National Foster
Parent Association sets the minimum average rate for
adequate care in California even higher — at $777.
The federal law requires that licensed foster parents
be paid enough to cover the actual cost of providing
food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies
and daily incidentals. According to the lawsuit, California
foster-care payments currently cover only a fraction
of these costs, resulting in a steep and steady decline
in recent years in the number of Californians willing
to become foster parents.
Some counties – for example, Sacramento and San
Bernardino – have seen the number of willing foster
families drop by more than 50 percent. Perversely, this
costs the State money, the lawsuit says, because a shortage
of foster parents means that abused and neglected children
are placed in far more expensive group homes.
Tight state purse strings also tend to make it more
difficult to keep foster siblings together in a family
or in families that live near one another.
“The data is horrifying, given our moral obligation
to these abused and neglected children,” says
Edward Howard, senior counsel for Children’s Advocacy
Institute. “Forty percent of all of California’s
homeless are former foster youth, a terrible indictment
of our foster care system. Foster children can also
experience post-traumatic stress disorder at rates worse
than that of Vietnam veterans.”
The lawsuit comes on the heels of the defeat earlier
this year of Assembly Bill 324, introduced by Assembly
Member Jim Beall. In addition to a 5% increase (about
$25 a month) in payments to families, the measure would
have tied future family support increases to upticks
in the California Necessities Index, and established
a program to educate and train foster parents.
To view the complaint, please click here.
For more information, contact CAI Senior Counsel Ed
Howard at (916) 844-5646 or eh4@sbcglobal.net.
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