Frustration Is Sending Caretakers To Exits

Bushs privatizing foster care is really working.
Frustration Is Sending Caretakers To Exits
By SHERRI ACKERMAN Published: Jul 25, 2005

VALRICO - The notice was late - and unexpected, foster
parents said.

Hillsborough Kids Inc., which oversees about 1,500 foster children in
this county, recently told about 500 foster parents they might have to
get their own back-to-school supplies for children this year.

An effort to collect donations failed this summer, leaving the agency
without supplies to pass along to parents. The state fell behind in
sending out checks for back-to- school clothes.

The news only reinforced the decision by longtime foster parents Linda
and Bob Briggs of Valrico: It's time to call it quits.

``They didn't get the support they needed, so we didn't get the
support we needed,'' said Linda Briggs, 56, a foster mother to
troubled teens for 17 years.

The Briggs told child welfare officials Thursday their home will close
Aug. 26. Ten girls ages 13 to 18 must leave the six- bedroom, 2
1/2-bath ranch-style house on Amber Road where some of them have lived
for five years.

``It's going to be hard,'' Linda Briggs said, but the couple plan to
stay involved as members of the newly formed Suncoast Foster Parent
Association.

They told the girls Thursday afternoon, before cooking three pot
roasts, 10 pounds of potatoes and 5 pounds of carrots for dinner. Most
of the children took it pretty well, Briggs said.

They understood the frustrations of being a foster parent.

High Food, Utility Costs

The state provides foster parents of teens about $455 a month for
their care. Of that, $66 must be reserved for a monthly allowance for
the children to pay for essentials, such as shampoo, toothpaste,
makeup and feminine supplies. The rest contributes to the family's
utilities, food and clothing.

Children with medical and emotional issues may receive more money, but
the checks don't begin to cover all the costs, the Briggses say.

The family spends at least $2,000 a month on groceries. They had a
$642 electric bill in July. Linda Briggs scours Wal- Mart or Sam's
Club for discounts on the 10 gallons of milk needed weekly, and a
day-old bakery is a good source for the 20 loaves of bread the family
eats each week.

Bob Briggs, 63, doesn't work because of a disability and illness.
Linda Briggs returned to driving a school bus nine years ago to make
ends meet. She saved part of her checks all year to help buy the girls
clothes, taking them to Plato's Closet in Brandon and other
consignment stores for name- brand items at bargain prices.

Some girls come to the Briggses' home with nothing but what they're
wearing.

A day before the state's tax exemption holiday began Saturday on
back-to-school outfits and supplies, the Briggses and foster parents
countywide still hadn't received state checks earmarked for such
purchases. For teens, the state provides about $300.

Jeff Rainey, chief executive officer of Hillsborough Kids Inc., said
Thursday the money, about $350,000, was delayed by the state because
the new fiscal year began in July. The agency cut checks Friday, he
said.

Rainey is working with the Tampa Metro YMCA and community leaders to
gather donations for school supplies. Berger MacKinnon, formerly of
Joshua House, a home for abused and neglected teens, has raised a
couple of thousand dollars, Rainey said.

The Suncoast Foster Parent Association also seeks donations.

Hillsborough Kids receives the bulk of its annual operating budget
from the Florida Department of Children & Families. This year, the
local agency requested $51 million to care for about 5,000 children,
but a final dollar amount has yet to be agreed upon, Rainey said.

Foster parents receive a stipend from the state based on a flat rate
that hasn't increased in eight years despite the rising cost of
living.

Bottom Third On Subsidies

According to statistics from the Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent
Association, Florida's average monthly subsidy for foster children
ranks in the bottom one-third among the 50 states.

``It doesn't seem to be taking precedence over anything,'' said
Patricia Iania, a Port St. Lucie resident and president of the
statewide group. ``We're the ones taking care of these kids. We're the
ones in the trenches.''

Iania and her husband care for six children, three of whom the couple
adopted.

Most foster parents depend on the stipend, she said, ``because our
love for the kids isn't always enough.''

In New York, where Iania used to live, foster and adoption subsidies
increased every two to three years to keep pace with the cost of
living, she said.

Foster parents get about 50 cents an hour to do what they do, said
Rainey, who divided the $12 daily state rate by 24 hours.

``I can see why they get frustrated,'' he said. ``They obviously do it
for more reasons than money.''

But money is a huge factor as foster parents, especially aging ones,
struggle with decreased incomes and extra expenses during the school
year.

``School trips are expensive,'' Linda Briggs said. ``They need $18 for
a P. E. uniform. Notebooks, paper, pens, a backpack. You're talking
$75 per child.''

Older children need even more. And every time parents take a new child
into the home, they often have to start over buying supplies.

Briggs tried to use her retirement from foster care as a lesson for
the foster children. She had the girls write letters to legislators,
and she gave the teens this advice:

Get an education, get involved, become a legislator.

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Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18