How much are foster parents paid?
Foster care is not employment. Families choose to foster because of a concern for children and desire to contribute something special to their community. There is a monthly maintenance payment to foster parents to cover the direct costs of caring for a child. However, foster parents are not expected to give up employment. There is also a service payment available for the three levels of specialized foster care. The service payment recognizes the primary foster parent’s special parenting skill and extra time required to meet the needs of a child, but is not considered to be employment income. Rates vary with the type of care provided. Please refer to Levels of Care and Monthly Rates pages.
