wishing I was a SAHM. Need advice on adoption subsidy and quitting my job.

Are you asking if it is allowed or if it is practically possible?

Are you really getting a large enough subsidy to pay ALL your bills? If so, I imagine you can stay home without prejudice.

I am asking both, is it allowed and is it practically possible. Yes, I would make enough to cover my bills, just on the adoption subsidy alone. We wouldn't be living life like the rich and famous, but we would be able to survive without much worry. I have thought about babysitting on the side, but it is all up in the air. If I keep working, it will take all of my paychecks to pay for daycare (reimbursed later in the month by the state), but in the bigger scheme of things, we'd be living off of the subsidy anyway. I just don't won't my worker to think that I quit just because I was getting the subsidy. I still want to foster... children are my passion, and I don't want that to hinder any of that.

After adoption, it is totally up to you, but you will not be able to foster unless you have a source of income to cover your living expenses. The adoption subsidy will not count towards that.

I think this varies. There are a few foster agencies near me that do therapeutic foster care and prefer the parent to NOT work so that they have more time for the child. And the foster stipend is upwards of $1500 a month per child so for some people, they can live off the foster stipend alone.As for the OP, I too would love to be a stay at home/homeschooling mom to a few kids so I totally get why this is something you would like to do. I wish you luck it accomplishing it!

To the OP: I wish I could have done this with my 2 youngest ones. It's sad that there are people who foster but don't care about the kids. When those of us do, we have to jump through hoops to show we're "not doing it for the money".

I'm kind of in a similar situation and have recenty talked to my SW about it. I have one adopted daughter who receives a subsidy and one pre-adoptive foster son. I would like to quit my job to be home with the two kids. I make a small income on the side designing websites and selling crafts, but it is not enough alone to support my household. However, my side income and my daughter's adoption subsidy combined will be enough, especially since I will no longer have daycare expenses. Of course, I do not want quitting my job to jeopardize the placement of my foster son or any other future foster placements. My SW said that my daughter's adoption assistance does count as "my income" and as long as it combined with my other income is enough to support us, I won't have a problem fostering. Once my FS is adopted, his adoption assistance will also count as my income. The key is that no part of the payments received for foster children can be used to support the household. I really don't think you will have a problem as long as your adoption assistance covers your expenses, but to be sure, I suggest you talk to your SW about it. Mine was very happy to hear that I will be able to stay home with the kids.

i know people do it....and are successful. i actually also know people who foster for a living with no other source of income. my last son was living in a foster home where they had several foster kids, and 1 adopted kid, and their only income was through foster care and adoption subsidy....what i do know was in that county they would not let you complete a new adoption with no source of income....but once the child was adopted they had no say.it is really going to depend on your county as far as whether they will let you still foster.

I think there are tax implications for this also. The adoption subsidy is not usually considered taxable income, but can be if it is the only source of income. At least, that was what I learned somewhere along the way. Make sure you check this out. I certainly understand the need to be home with these guys. After our 3 girls were adopted, I quit my job. There was just no way to keep up with the demands of the girls and work full time. On top of that, day care was eating much of my pay check. The subisdy allowed me to do this, but if it weren't for my husband's income there is no way we could live on the subsidy payments alone.

It depends on the state. If you are using adoption income it counts as household income you just can't use Foster board checks because they count as that individual child's income. In my state you can be on Public assistance, SSI or whatever else and foster as long as you can prove that your household bills are paid and on time.

Thank you all for the replies. I still haven't so many questions/doubts, but your replies have eased my mind a lot. In the end I will have to do what I think is best for my little ones, whether it work or manage to stay at home. I guess only time will tell. I just HATE feeling so guilty about wanting to stay home even though I know financially (because of daycare) and because of all of the health issues we are dealing with now and will have to face, it would benefit us all more if I was able to stay home.

I wonder what the original poster ended up doing. I am thinking along the same lines but once I adopt, I would not foster.

Once a child has at least 2 placements, more efforts should be made to allow a foster parent to stay home. This will help with the healing.

I am single and fostering. I recently quit my FT job and took up PT job at YMCA. I get free Childcare during my shifts and 1/2 off any programs and classes. I also have a contract job that I do as needed. So I'm happily at home more and have the flexibility to take kids to appointments and stay with sick kids without fear of losing my job. I will be adopting kids this year and they qualify for subsidies. I make sure I tell workers I still work and make good money. They haven't given me a hard time.??