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Hi All,
I recently took in my neice who was born addicted to methadone and had been exposed to Heroine via breast milk. She has tested drug free but still is experiencing some withdrawl affects.
I am a technically her foster parent with Los Angeles DCFS and we aren't receiving any financial assistance other than WIC (formula). We haven't had our home inspection so we aren't receiving the monthly stipend. My wife and I both work and don't qualify for any aid. Does anyone know if there is a California program that assists with in-home child care? I would love a combination of in-home child care as well as physical therapy to help this poor baby during this awful time.
I have spend hours and hours searching the web for assistance but can't find anything specific to my needs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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I don't know of any agencies that offer in home childcare. Get on that county to complete your paper work so that you can recieve money to help with the cost. Also call your local regional center or other early intervention center as they will asess the baby and get the services that she needs.
Definitely call Regional Center and Children's Home Society. CHS provides childcare assistance, though it's usually income based. They may count her income (none) separately though, so it's certainly worth a call. Also talk to your local Department of Social Services. She may qualify for CalWorks as her own assistance unit, and could qualify for food stamps and MediCal as well. I know their paperwork lists an example of a child living with an aunt as a family in which the child would count as their own assistance unit for CalWorks purposes, but it's been a few years since I saw that so it's possible it could have changed. That would be about $350 in cash and probably another $200 or so in food stamps, so definitely worth asking. Not sure how that would work with WIC though, since of course she may not eat that much in baby food. Formula costs above that covered by WIC and any special diets could run over that amount, though. Definitely call 211 and ask. Also stop in to the local Regional Center and see if they have a Comfort Connection or similar person to ask for help with. Comfort Connection in the downtown Santa Ana Regional Center office is run by parents of disabled kids and they go out of their way to advocate for you and find all sorts of resources. Also call the Office of Client's Rights Advocacy in your local Regional Center. They have lawyers and advocates who can help hook you up with services. They can be busy but just keep calling back until somebody is assigned to your case. She should be receiving early intervention through RC and that will definitely help to hook you up with all sorts of other services.