SUPPORT HB 5095

HOW DO FOSTER PARENTS HELP ILLINOIS FOSTER CHILDREN?

Foster parents in Illinois care for 14,000 of our state’s children. These are children who must depend on the State of Illinois to serve as their legal parent and then must depend on foster parents to provide for their daily care, support and nurturing.

WHAT IS THE FOSTER PARENT COST OF CARE?

• Foster parents are provided with a monthly reimbursement that is meant to cover the costs of caring for those children.
• A recent study of national rates shows that Illinois needs to increase its rates 79% to cover the true costs of care for a 9 year-old foster child. That study suggests the true cost of care per month is $757 while DCFS pays only $422---a gap of $335 per month.

WHY IS HB 5095 NEEDED?

Foster parent rates have seen only one 3% increase in seven years, during a time of the fastest rising food prices in 17 years. The foster family budget reality is that a dozen eggs are 38% more expensive than last year, a gallon of milk 30% more expensive, a loaf of wheat bread, 24%. The bottom line is that our foster parents are making up the difference out of their own pockets.

WHAT DOES HB 5095 DO?

Provides an additional $24 million in the DCFS appropriations for FY’09, so that we can begin to correct the deficiency in the foster parent cost-of-care rate. This will average to an increase of approximately $145 per month per child and start to narrow the reimbursement gap.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION?

• Foster children will benefit from the increased resources for their foster families.
• Foster parents will be able to use their personal resources to build family strength and stability.

Chief House Sponsor: Lou Lang

CONTACT: Margaret Berglind

Child Care Association of Illinois

217-528-4409

ilccamb@aol.com