So, on Tuesday a prop passed in Arizona. It was very publicized. It was for a new 1% sales tax. The money that it raises are to go to education and public safety. What a lot of people probably don’t know is that a big chunk of that money is also going to DES (the Department of Economic Security). DES is the department that CPS (Child Protective Services) falls under.
At school events and foster care events we were told over and over again how important it was to support this prop. Now, I can’t say that I did then nor do I now.
Another thing you might or might not know is that last year as a foster parent, our reimbursement was cut 20% and the additional funds were cut more.. most of them by 50% and some were scrapped altogether. There’s nobody getting rich doing foster care. Or, if they are, their idea of rich is far different than mine. Foster care reimbursement varies from state to state and sometimes even varies based by what county or city you’re in. There’s no consistency in foster care across the country. Heck, here, if you’re fostering a Native American child you re reimbursed at a rate of nearly three times the amount that you’d be receiving for a child the same age of a different race (a child that doesn’t fall under the Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA).
Now, I don’t know about you, but my expenses didn’t go down 20% last year. I haven’t been able to feed the little guy 20% less or buy him clothes half as often as I’ve needed to in the past. We get about $20 a month to spend on clothing for our little guy. Now, he’s still in toddler clothes and I am a master shopper (thanks, Mom!) so I can buy an outfit for that much. But, what happens during the months that he needs shoes? What about the number of socks that he runs through by wearing them outside (he’s a little rebel)?
So, I’m thinking that now that I’m paying 1% more for everything, I should get a raise… It’s only fair, right? It was a temporary cut…
Well, I’m not going to hold my breath.
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