In It For the Money

We received our monthly stipend check as we returned home from an 8 hour mandatory training.

I added up the hours we were required to spend doing exclusively foster parent things (not regular parenting) this month.

• 8 hour training, both of us required to go = 16 hours (plus a babysitter for Pumpkin…)
• 3 hour training, both of us = 6 hours (plus babysitter)
• 2 hour meeting with social worker, both of us= 4 hours
• 1.5 hour meeting with social worker, Erat only
• 2 hour evaluation by Birth-to-Three worker
• 1 hour evaluation by Nurse

Grand Total of 30.5 hours

• not including documentation, communication with social worker, coordination of visitation, talking with Pumpkin’s siblings’ foster parents, and, oh, yeah, regular parenting

Hourly rate of $10.80.  Not minimum wage, but well below what either one of us make.

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Received reimbursement check for week of care for Carrot. $150.

Drove Carrot to school on the other side of town, and picked up each day. Round trip-20 miles. (half hour each way)

Total miles= 200 (Federal reimbursement rate of 55.5 cents per mile = $111)

Total hours driving= 10 ($3.90 per hour of driving)

Again, not including any “regular parenting.”

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We are going on vacation, and going to board Bingo at the doggy day care owned by good friends.

(For privacy, this is not their Cen.tral B.ark location, but one with the same rates.)

The going rate for overnight care for dogs (who run around, occupy themselves, and sleep alone in crates over night)  is $37.50 per day.

For anyone who says foster parents are “it it for the money” there is nowhere I could board my dog for what we get paid as a foster parent.