Foster parents have right to fair reimbursement, court rules

Foster parents have right to fair reimbursement, court rules

Foster parents have a legal right to compensation for the actual cost of providing children with housing, food, clothing and other care required by the state, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state was violating the Child Welfare Act by failing to adequately compensate foster parents caring for about 13,000 wards of the state of California. The court last year found the state similarly remiss in its reimbursements to institutions that care for the majority of California's 90,000 foster children.