New to fostering and wondering how crunchy mamas handle certain things....

[swd12422]

We had our first home visit today, which was essentially just an hour of chatting and paperwork. She talked about expenses and how to bill and how everything is divided. I think this is where we are, I'm sure it's different in other states, but I'm hoping someone can explain this to me:

We will receive a stipend of $x/day per child. This is for their general care and basically our "pay" for carting them around to all visits, appointments and basically for letting our lives be disrupted by caseworkers and attorneys.

Each child gets $150 per year for clothing. These checks come twice a year (I think) but we can request "emergency clothing" funds if a child comes with nothing.

Children who are toddler/preschool age can receive a certain amount towards daycare and preschool tuition.

We were told we need to save receipts for everything. So I'm guessing that if we have a child for a year, we will end up with $150 (or more) in clothing receipts. Simple enough...

But we will be fostering babies. So she said on top of all that we will get a diaper allowance. And either formula allowance or WIC.

If we cloth diaper, we won't have receipts for disposable diapers to send in. Does this mean we don't get the diaper allowance?

I still have stuff from DS, but no newborn size stuff and I need to replace things like wet bags and laundry bags too. Can I use the diaper allowance for that, or is that a red flag to them? But if I don't use the diaper allowance, is that a red flag, b/c then it looks like I'm not using diapers on the babies. So what do you all do? If you CD your own LOs, do you use sposies on fosters?

Long winded, I know. Sorry! But something on another thread (poster indicated that some "alternative" parenting stuff sometimes raises suspicion with CPS) made me ask. I certainly don't intend to take money that I'm not going to use, but I also don't want it to look that way if I'm using a month or two's worth of diaper money for a stash and then not using it at all.

[heatherdeg]

It might have been me making you worried.  Cloth diapering is not quite as big as extended breastfeeding, homebirthing and cosleeping (all of which can be grossly misconstrued in the eyes of a not-very-enlightened social worker, much the way it can be misconstrued to the general, non-holistic population... kwim?).

Cloth diapering is not likely to bat an eye, but realize you may need to buy sposies for family visits (if the child has visitation).  And a lot of daycares won't take cloth, either (although I found one where I lived that would).

As far as money goes, we really never separated stuff out.  With receipts, it was an "in case you're asked" thing and unless there were concerns, nobody asked.  So we certainly kept them, but we didn't worry if we lost one... kwim?  On the flip side, in my state, you were given the money and the clothing money regardless and kept receipts IN CASE they felt a child should've had more clothes for the money and wanted to see it (never happened with us).  I'm not sure if where you are, you need to submit them to get the money...?

I've never had diaper allowance.  That came out of our stipend.

And if you get a newborn placement between now and the end of the year that comes to you from the hospital post-birth and stays through Dec. 31st, keep in mind that you can claim them as a dependent on your taxes.  People will tell you it's "more than half of the year" or that you have to have receipts for that, but that's not true.  Those were old rules.  The trick is getting the child's SSN to file.  You can always retroactively submit an amended return if need be.

Edited by heatherdeg - 9/28/11 at 12:07pm

[swd12422]

Thanks, Heather. I'll have to ask next time if we're supposed to submit receipts or just hang onto them "in case..." That would make a big difference. She just said to save all receipts and to keep all the money "organized." I don't really know how that's supposed to work, since when I asked about the daily stipend and its intended use, she essentially said it's for activities and for our time, kind of like a salary (although of course she didn't use that term). If we're not submitting mileage for reimbursement and the stipend covers that, I wonder if we're still expected to keep a mileage record?

I have no problem buying sposies for visits, and daycare won't be an issue.

Also, thanks for the reminder about taxes. I was told that it had to be more than half the year, so that's good to know.

[Polliwog]

Heather, when did the "more than half the year or home from the hospital" thing change? I hadn't heard that but I might be out of the loop.

Cloth diapering isn't going to raise any red flags. It's pretty common these days. I've never had a diaper allowance (or had to submit receipts for ANYTHING) but the problem with buying non-consumable items with a stipend like that is that social services might want them to be taken with the child if the child moves to another foster home, goes home or to a relative. In many places, if something is bought with a special stipend (like a clothing allowance) then it belongs to the child and moves with him. Other places, like where I live, things are flexible. My hunch is that if they are going to give you a diaper allowance, they'd want it to be used for consumables.You wouldn't be able to buy a diaper pail with a stipend, I wouldn't think. It's either part of the start up costs of fostering or to be purchased with your monthly care payment.

[swd12422]

See, this is where I get so confused... Are they going to think I'm insane if I ask these kinds of specifics? (What money do I use for a new diaper pail? What about new covers and snappis? Do diaper covers count as clothing? I feel silly enough asking here!) And I don't mind if they want the stuff to go with the baby when they are RUed/adopted/moved, but how do I prove that the prefolds are mine (from DS) but the covers were purchased with the baby's money? Or that they weren't purchased with the baby's money but with the stipend (which I gather is *our* money)?

[Polliwog]

I think you are way overthinking things. The worker will likely not have a clue what you are talking about when it comes to the specifics of cloth diapering. I'd ask if the diaper allowance would cover some of your cloth diaper expenses but I'm pretty sure they won't allow it. You are responsible for stuff like diaper pails. That's part of the cost of fostering an infant or toddler. You can use your monthly stipend to pay for stuff like that. It doesn't cost much to foster a baby (assuming you don't have to pay child care expenses from the stipend.) It costs more to foster older kids who have activities, need more clothes, etc.

[queenjane]

I'd find out how much the diaper stipend is..like, if its 20/mo...well you'd probably need to shell out alot more than that all at once for cloth supplies right? so you could just ask her "if i cloth diaper, how do i handle that?" Here we dont get an additional amount for diapers, HOWEVER a child coming into care for the first time IS eligible for 200 (ish) in initial clothing allowance, and diapers are a part of that, and it lists on there how many (like two packages or something) and also says "or X amount of plastic pants" or some such thing, to allow for cloth (i cant remember the exact number though)....

But yeah, you're overthinking things....basically they want to make sure if you are getting money for a specific thing, you are spending that on the child. With the agency i was with, you had to turn in receipts for the initial clothing, but additional clothing was added to your monthly stipend (about $100 twice a year) which you didnt have to "prove" you spent (although it never hurts to keep some receipts in case any questions come up)...it cant hurt to save receipts for any cloth diaper expenses, and you either get reimbursed or not. If its something you'll be buying regardless, it doesnt matter much. They should at least give you the equivalent amount for what you'd be spending on sposies i'd think. Personally, when i got my son at three weeks old, i got my tax refund shortly thereafter and so went out and spent about $400 on all sorts of lovely cloth supplies (motherease bamboo sandys...artsy dipes i found online....all sorts of cute covers...the best diaper liner in the world...yeah i went a little crazy )

Just try to relax and enjoy the process.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

Heather, when did the "more than half the year or home from the hospital" thing change? I hadn't heard that but I might be out of the loop.

It's been that way as long as I was fostering (so since 2007?).  Because a child born after the halfway point of the year has to be claimed somewhere--so if they were discharged to your care and stayed through the end of the year (minus any medically necessary hospital stays), my accountant (or was it worker?) said we got to claim them.  I did it with Cookie in 2007 (born Aug.) and Lala in 2008 (born Nov.).  IRS never batted an eyelash.

Agreeing that you're overthinking it.  I think they just want to make sure that if they ask questions, you can substantiate what was done.  I'm not sure they'd ask you to send prefolds anyway.  Most kids don't go back to a cd environment.  :/

[queenjane]

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

Heather, when did the "more than half the year or home from the hospital" thing change? I hadn't heard that but I might be out of the loop.

It hasnt changed, i think she was just clarifying that even though a newborn would not have been in your home more than six months, if they were discharged from the hospital directly to you, then no one else can claim them and even if its been less than 6 months, you can still claim them. I guess some people have been told they couldnt, if, say, they got a newborn in November?

[Polliwog]

Oh, ok. I thought she meant that you didn't have to have an "older" kid for more than half the year. I knew about the newborn thing.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

Oh, ok. I thought she meant that you didn't have to have an "older" kid for more than half the year. I knew about the newborn thing.

Eeek.  I just re-read my post and see what you mean.  I've corrected it to be clear that I mean a newborn.  SORRY!