Relative Placements & Respite Care for Foster Kids in Nebraska

Well, folks, I just got a call that steamed my vegetables.

Apparently, if a relative provides respite for a foster parent who's caring for their niece or nephew or whatever, they are not paid for providing this service. It is just considered a visit.

Nice.

So the total stranger who cares for Niece when foster mom wants a break gets more consideration than I do simply because I am a relative of hers?

What total BS.

You know…it's not the money. The money helps you do fun things with the munchkin, yes. What irks me is that the attitude of the system towards relatives who want to help their vulnerable family members is horrible. They'll pay a regular foster parent $900/month, the going rate in Nebraska, if you're with an agency. But if you're the child's aunt, they pay you $262/mo. If you threaten to quit, for reasons totally not connected with money, all of a sudden you start getting money frickin' rained on you.And if you ask for more money, they give you a guilt trip. A big fat one. Everyone should be treated the same. So what they're saying is that what you do for the child is less valuable than what a regular foster parent does.

They tell you over and over that it's best for a child to be placed with his or her relatives when they enter the system. Then they treat you like persona non grata, listen to nothing you say, and try to get away with paying you as little as possible. Because you're a relative.

If that were a stand-alone fact, that relatives get paid less for helping, that wouldn't be much. But couple that with the lack of support that relatives get. When I had my niece, a social worker came to check my residence once during the process of getting my niece, and then once again when she fell off the d*mn balcony. They couldn't have cared less what happened in my residence, so long as they never heard about any of it.

I'm so tired of these people. They just take advantage of relatives left and right. This is one of the reason I couldn't stand foster parenting anymore…being treated like a glorified babysitter. You see all that propaganda about how you're going to make a difference in a child's life, but the state and their cronies absolutely don't treat you like it.