By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE CHILD Development Agency's (CDA) plans to increase the maintenance paid to some foster parents has been welcomed by the Kingston and St. Andrew Foster Parents' Association.
"I don't know how much it is being raised to (but) if that is so, it will be greeted with a certain amount of relief," said Shari Tomlinson, president of the association.
Last week, the CDA said it was in the process of submitting a proposal to Cabinet for an increase in the maintenance paid to foster parents.
Winston Bowen, director of programmes at the CDA, declined to state the size of the proposed increase but told The Gleaner on Tuesday that the CDA was hoping to make submissions to Cabinet by April.
Ms. Tomlinson said on Monday that the current sum of $3,500 per month per child was inadequate. Payments, she said, were made bi-monthly, leaving several of the island's more than 700 foster parents to dig deep into their pockets.
"You have to come up with money to sustain the child but Jamaicans have big hearts. It is not near adequate, so that goes to show you that children in foster care are being cared for by people who really care," she said.
CDA statistics show that up to September 30 last year, there were 1,073 children in foster care.
On average, it may cost parents $2,000 a week just to ensure students go to school. Depending on the child, costs can go to more than $10,000 per month if clothes, medical and other expenses are factored in, Ms. Tomlinson said.
She expressed hoped that any increase in the maintenance costs will increase the number of people who become foster parents. She said many want to foster children "for sentimental reasons but it's just that when you look at the economy of it, they are making a conscious decision to stay away." Ms. Tomlinson has been a foster mother to five children.
