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When my foster baby was placed right out of the hospital I got a clothing allowance. I was wondering do you all get a clothing allowance with every placement? Although all of my children are in the same county(different workers) I was just wondering if they would qualify for a clothing allowance. When I asked my most recent placements worker she said I think so but your agency handles that. I told her my FS worker put in a request and they mailed the agency a check and in return agence mailed me a check. I'm still learning how this all works. I know all counties, workers etc. work differently. My kids are from Los Angeles County (CA).:eek:
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Hmm my recent two came with nothing but clothes on the back...they were tech in care for one day before me..wonderif Fresno county will give them an allowance? Still haven't heard from them. I have spent lots of cash on things they need especially coAts..:mad: mom told cps you wanna take them u dress them.
I live in PA and they do a clothing inventory the day you get the kids and if the kids are needing additional clothing, then they will allow you to buy whatever it is on the list the kids didn't come with and you turn in your receipts and get reimbursed. If the kid has been in care before, they may not give you anything though.
Wow! My county is amazing then! We get a voucher that is good at many local stores including target, kmart and Once Upon a Child. It is good for $125 (this is PRE TAX TOO!!!, since CSB is tax exempt). My recent foster baby got it the first time he was in care, then I got another voucher when I got him back into my home 2 months later. Both times I have had him, he has only been here a little over 2 weeks before he went with family. I got the voucher at the time I picked the child up from CSB (he was an ER placement both times) And both times he had nothing on but the clothes and diaper on his back.
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I'm in MA and I received a quarterly clothing allowance in addition to foster care subsidy the entire time my now AS was in care (6 years). If I remember correctly it was somewhere between $85 to $100. I'd have to dig up my records to be sure. It was very helpful to have that coming in regularly. The other nice thing about our area is that once a placement is established, routine payments such as subsidy and quarterly clothing are made through direct deposit. The only thing I had to make out reimbursement forms for was mileage.
Wow its amazing how things vary depending on the area. For my first placement (the baby) I got $121. His parents purchased a few onsies for him but that was it. I had NOTHING. I had to purchase a car seat and all the other things that babies need. $121 doesn't go very far when you have to buy everything but it did help. Curious to see what will happen with the sib set I have. Mom sent clothes but they wreak of smoke and the oldest one is literally popping out of her clothes. Everything is too small. I've already purchased the older one a few things because she starts school tomorrow and I did not want her to feel uncomfortable or akward because her clothes don't fit well. Oh well I'll see what the worker says tomorrow. Seems like she's not very knowledgeable and doesn't seem to really care to find out. Only been in her position a little over a month...at least that's what she told me.
when we had the girls we got a quarterly allowance of $150 per kid. we did not get that for the first time until they had already been with us for a month. luckily they came with alot of clothing so there were only a few things like socks and underwear that i had to buy before we got the allowance. it allowed me to use all of the allowance to buy spring/summer stuff for them too since everything they came with was winter/fall stuff.
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In our area, we get a voucher for local stores like k-mart, once upon a child, or shopko. The vouchers here are spread over the year, so you call if you need XYZ and they say how much 75$? and you get a voucher. Each child is allowed 500$ a year. So when we got our foster daughter in sept. we had to use it or lose it by december. We can only buy shoes, socks, underwear, and clothes. NOTHING ELSE! but it is a great help, and she will get another 500 this year as long as she is still in care. We can also get vouchers for diapers of 50$ a month. If you need a car seat for the child, you can get a voucher for that. They also give vouchers for formula if you dont get enough from WIC for the month. they pretty much will give you a voucher for anything the child needs in my county. BUT the only reason why is because our monthly stipind is one of the LOWEST in the nation! So they try their best to make sure the children get what they need. The workers are great with vouchers!
somo_chickenlady
We get yearly clothing allowances. Ages 0-5 gets $250/yr, 6-12 gets $290/yr, 13+ gets $480/yr.
When my FS and FD came into care, we were given a voucher to Kmart to buy them things they needed that we didn't have on hand - diapers, wipes, clothes, bottles and formula (just to get us through until WIC was straightened out). They came with some items from their Mom, but most of it was too small and smelled of smoke (the smell didn't come out after several washings) or were just gross. As far as clothing allowance goes - we get a clothing allowance twice per year (spring and fall) for $200 per kid (I think it goes up as they get older) so a total of $400 per year. If we needed a carseat, we would be reimbursed by our agency with the understanding the carseat goes with the child if they are RU. We can also get other items reimbursed - crib, stroller, etc. as long as those items go with the child if they are RU.
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In my county the get $200 in clothing vouchers for the entire time they are in care. You can request a voucher in the beginning or later but must show need (such as winter clothes are needed or child just entered care without any extra clothing). The rest comes out of your regular monthly FC check.