Foster care advocates protest low payments

Saturday, Aug. 1, 1998 | 3:35 a.m.

Members of the Sierra Association of Foster Families locked themselves in a cage at a local Wal-Mart parking lot this weekend to protest Nevada's spot at the bottom of the national list of foster care payments.

"Certain kennels charge more money to kennel an animal than foster families get paid," said Doug Fisher, 44, a foster parent.

Fisher said he receives about $12.94 a day per foster child, while some kennels charge about $35 a day to house an animal.

Several parents started the protest on Friday and said they would continue the "lock-up" through Sunday at the parking lot on Northtowne Lane.

The standard monthly rate foster parents receive in Nevada is $402.50 for children ages newborns to 12 years old, according to the state's Division of Child and Family Services.

The national average is $484. Foster families in North Dakota receive $527, while Colorado caregivers receive an average of $835 a month, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials.

Gordon Evans, former director of the National Foster Parents Association, is among those critical of the Nevada program.

"Nevada's foster program is one of the most mixed-up," Evans told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"Some of the state department's attitudes were shabby in terms of what they thought of foster parents.

"They think of them as a replaceable item. If one doesn't work out, they'll get others. They treat them like servants of the system," he said.

Bruce Alder, deputy administrator for the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services, disagreed.

"Foster parents are really important to us, and yes, we like to see them get more money," Alder said.

"But we respect the Legislature in setting the rates. We do the best we can."