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My agency is really making me angry these days because they seem to not be aware of much. After almost one year of me shopping at Goodwill, Ross, and other discount stores I was told that the County Auditor for Los Angeles County told my agency that "LA COUNTY prefers that we don't shop at GOODWILL".
Now I don't know about you guys but my Goodwill carries brand new Target Clothes with the price tags still attached. My Goodwill also has a large selection of brand new Justice clothes and other popular name brand items.
My kids bio and foster get clothes from Goodwill and I mean all the good stuff. Abercrombie, Hollister, Justice, Guess, Old Navy, Gap, Childrens Place, London Fog, Target etc. I usually purchase their shoes from Ross, Target, Payless, Sears etc. unless I luck up and find brand new ones at Goodwill.
I am pretty anal about clothing so I would never purchase them things that are over used or raggedy. I take pride in how the kids look and feel.
When kids come here with absolutely nothing but the clothes on their back and you get a clothing allowance of $98-$150 how can you not shop at Goodwill and still get them a decent amount of clothes, shoes, and a jacket?
It's IMPOSSIBLE
My agency has been really making me angry because it just seems that they lack tons of important information and how they word things to me doesn't make a lot of sense. If you say you prefer does that really mean you can't? Which is it cuz i'm totally confused!
Have any of you experienced this?
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why not set up an appointment with the oversight office then go shopping at Goodwill before you go. bring your brand new purchases with you. or take pictures of the stuff on the racks.
i would suspect that it falls under the "foster kids deserve new clothes too" concept. i shop at goodwill. i am sitting at school, typing this. i am wearing pants and a jacket i bought there. usually i'm wearing Goodwill stuff from shirt to feet! i have a bunch of kids--it costs money to do for all of us, so i use my local Goodwill.
our rule here is that you can use Goodwill as long as you also buy brand new with the clothing allowances because really, everyone DOES deserve new stuff.
even the mom!
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If it doesn't say you can't, then keep doing it. One of the Goodwill stores near us gets Target clearance items, still with tags. I don't have a problem buying clothes from any thrift store without new tags because we don't noramlly shop at the big expensive stores anyway for everyday clothing especially for the kids. Have they ever seen what little kids do to their clothes?!! If we need something for a special occassion, I will go get new stuff, but for school and playing outside, forget it. The less I spend on clothes, the more I have to buy things the kids really want.
Loving4ward
The rule for us is that we have to dress our foster kids the same way we dress our own kids. So if we would shop at Goodwill for our own kids go ahead and shop there for your foster kids.
I have no experience yet, but in my state it seems that once a year the kids are given a clothing budget. It seems to be that they get around $150 per year per child. According to the handbook the CW can put together a voucher, or you can submit receipts for reimbursement.
Since my girls are moving in around Thanksgiving, and they came into care at about that time a year ago it seems their annual clothing budget should start again by Dec. 1st. :clap:
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I am required to show receipts every month for new clothes. I have heard from many foster kids that they never got anything new, nice picked out by them. My friend has a thirteen to she took her shopping and the child told her she had never been allowed to do that before. I do buy secondhand from yard sales and consignment. I do not count it towards the requirement. Things like socks, underware, bras etc should be new anyways so it doesn't bother me. I know our thrift store has clearance from target and ironically it costs more than it did at target lol.. I have waited long enough and gotten items for a dollar at Walmart and target clearance. What is harder for me is buying stuff new before we get the child and not being able to use the receipt because the dates don't match up. For instance holiday items, toys to have on hand when they come extra what if clothes.
Doggymom I like you have to turn in monthly receipts. I don't purchase any items such as bras and underwear from Goodwill. I purchase most those items from Walmart, Target, Ross or DD's brand new. I also combo shop meaning my kids do get new things from other stores such as Sears, Crazy 8, Gymboree, Ross, and Childrens Place, Payless etc. but mainly we shop and Goodwill. and to be honest with you my kids prefer to shop there because they know for about $25 they can get 6 outfits and most of the time they are new or very lightly used.
Caddorose I agree with you. When clothing is needed for a special event I definitely purchase new.
Inshape I may just call their bluff. Our home got chose for the County Audit through our agency and the auditor will be here tomorrow. I may very well ask her to show me proof that I can't shop at Goodwill.
To those of you that mentioned that you receive vouchers...I wish they gave vouchers. I was told that vouchers would be given for our latest placement but then I was told that no vouchers were available and that mom would bring clothes. That was a joke because mom bought a plastic grocery bag with a few things in it that wreaked of smoke and the stuff had holes in it and was too small.
We have to be very careful when we buy used items or even new items from a used item environment. Bed bugs are becoming a huge nuisance. I don't bring anything into the house until it has been washed and run through the dryer on High heat. Items like toys, swing sets etc can have roaches and or termites. Hubs has all of his pest control certifications he is a home inspector and always worried about bugs from contaminated items, I treat all items from birth families as if they a contaminated as lice and bed bugs are common here. :(
if the clothes still haev tags on them especially, I wouldnt think the state should have a problem with that!
Its not like we're not buying the kids clothes from other places as well.......but you can get 3x the clothing for the same money by shopping at thrift or consignment stores, so why not?! I have gotten some cool things for ME at those places....when my daughter was growing up, she LOVED going to goodwill with her allowance....
And yes, children are hard on clothes....so for play clothes, it makes sense to buy more for cheaper
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rm41more
Mountain Mommy
We are also in California (Southern Cali)
we can't shop 2nd hand either. I usually do bigger purchases at Target, TJ Maxx and ONLY WITH MAJOR DISCOUNT - Justice. (I do NOT understand the big deal with brand name clothing at this young) Her winter coat took up most of the $50 anyway. Her brand name sneakers took up most of the $50 a month too. (we can do a big shopping trip and it'll carry over from month to month) I was so against getting her brand name sneakers but in the end it was the only way I could get her to WEAR them. It was a very special gift and there are (happily) no more arguments when getting dressed.I supplement outfits at Goodwill or Consignment Shops a lot. GirlyGirl is rough on her clothes and tags and such quickly irritate her skin so it's been a bit of a bugger to try and find stuff that she can tolerate. With her ADHD these little irritations become huge distractions. She likes shopping at Goodwill and I WILL NOT stop doing that because it is a responsible (earth friendly and wallet friendly) way to get what you need.
Our FFA does not allow us to turn in receipts that are from consignment stores, Goodwill, or resale stores. The reason behind it is the few foster parents have ruined bargain shopping for everyone else by not spending money on the kids needs and by dressing them in old torn clothes. We are in So. Cal.
We had an emergency placement from another foster home and the kids came with torn, stained, unmatching clothes but the FP had just been given over $300 for clothes for the both of them. (two weeks before they were removed so clothes should have been in new condition still)
I'm so sorry that you have to turn in receipts. We are given a monthly stipend that is supposed to cover clothing as well as the other day to day type things. It's up to us to make the most of what we are allotted.
Is that agency intentionally giving themselves additional work? Sorry for the snarky comment, I don't see why you are expected to spend more on foster kids when you can find the deals at discount places.
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mcbmom
Our FFA does not allow us to turn in receipts that are from consignment stores, Goodwill, or resale stores. The reason behind it is the few foster parents have ruined bargain shopping for everyone else by not spending money on the kids needs and by dressing them in old torn clothes. We are in So. Cal.
We had an emergency placement from another foster home and the kids came with torn, stained, unmatching clothes but the FP had just been given over $300 for clothes for the both of them. (two weeks before they were removed so clothes should have been in new condition still)
mittenskitten
I'm so sorry that you have to turn in receipts. We are given a monthly stipend that is supposed to cover clothing as well as the other day to day type things. It's up to us to make the most of what we are allotted.
Is that agency intentionally giving themselves additional work? Sorry for the snarky comment, I don't see why you are expected to spend more on foster kids when you can find the deals at discount places.