Funding cuts may reduce ranks of Utah foster parents

SALT LAKE CITY — Pet owners pay more to board a dog for a day than the state of Utah pays foster parents to house, clothe and feed a child, and some say the latest cuts in reimbursement money will force willing parents out of the system.

A legislative committee heard earlier this week that many foster care families may be forced to leave the system because daily funding per child has been cut so deeply. The latest cuts took effect July 1, with the average payment per child per day now at $14 to $19, depending on age. Average pet boarding fees per day range from $20 to $25, according to Jennifer Gardner, president of the Utah Foster/Adoptive Families Association.

Gardner said foster families approached for this story declined to be identified, but one shared her story.

"Wendy" and her husband have been foster parents to children of all ages for 10 years, but when her husband lost his job a few months ago, she had to return to work. Even after he found another job, she had to keep working to pay the bills, and they continued to pay out more in expenses to care for their foster children than they received from the state.

They agonized over what to do and finally "had to ask that the children be removed from their home at the beginning of summer because they couldn't afford to do it anymore," Gardner said. "They're devastated. It was their life, and they loved doing it. But when it came down to it they had to choose between providing for their own family and providing for foster kids."

Nikki MacKay, director of retention services for the Utah Foster Care Foundation, told the state's Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel that foster parents simply can't provide for the needs of children at the current reimbursement rate.

"Many want to provide the service, but they're reaching the point where they don't know if they will be able to do it any longer," she said. "Within the last two years, some of the reimbursement rates have been cut up to 10 percent."

When asked how many families have stopped providing care, MacKay said there are no hard numbers at this point. "They didn't necessarily stop providing care July 1. … These are the type of people that won't just send these kids back. I do know of some who are no longer renewing their licenses (as foster parents) as of now."

More than 2,800 Utah children are in foster care, a large percentage of them housed by 1,400 licensed foster care families who have been through a training program provided by the state.