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Hitting the MARC: Establishing Foster Care Minimum Adequate Rates for Children
Report Highlights Inadequate Foster Care Rates
This report calculates the real expenses of caring for a child in foster care and recommends foster care rates for the states and the District of Columbia, which each set their own rates. CWLA served on the advisory board for the report's authors, Children's Rights, the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and the National Foster Parent Association.
Hitting the MARC demonstrates that rates of support for children in foster care are far below what is necessary to provide basic care for children in care in nearly every state. On average, current foster care rates would have to increase almost 40% nationwide to provide for basic care. The national average of the Foster Care MARC is $629 per month for 2-year-olds, $721 per month for 9-year-olds, and $790 per month for 16-year-olds, compared with the current national average rates of $488 per month, $509 per month, and $568 per month respectively.
The Foster Care MARC was calculated by analyzing families' typical expenditures on their children, identifying and adding additional costs particular to children in foster care who have needs and behaviors resulting from the trauma they have experienced that generate additional costs, and applying a geographic cost-of-living adjustment.
For more information, visit Children's Rights.
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