Foster parents typically get paid between roughly $400 and $1,200 per month per child, with the exact amount depending on the state, the child’s age, and the level of care the child needs. The payment is a tax-free reimbursement for the cost of raising the child, not a wage. On top of the monthly stipend, foster parents generally receive Medicaid coverage for the child, may claim federal tax credits, and can access other supports that offset out-of-pocket costs.
Monthly Rates by State and Age
Every state sets its own reimbursement schedule, and the spread is wide. For a two-year-old, monthly rates run from under $200 in the lowest-paying state to over $1,250 in the highest. For a teenager, the range runs from about $400 to nearly $1,300. Most states pay somewhere between $500 and $900 per month for a school-age child, with higher amounts for teenagers, who tend to eat more, need pricier clothing, and take part in costlier activities.
California, New York, and the District of Columbia pay over $1,000 per month even for younger children. Mississippi, Missouri, and Utah pay well under $400. The majority of states cluster between $500 and $850 per month for a child around age nine. Rates generally step up by age bracket, and most states use at least three tiers: infants and toddlers, school-age children, and teenagers.
Each child placed in your home gets a separate payment, so a family caring for two siblings receives two stipends. Payments are usually issued monthly, though the schedule varies by agency. These are base rates for standard foster care; children with higher needs qualify for enhanced tiers.
Higher Pay for Specialized and Therapeutic Care
When a child has significant medical, emotional, or behavioral needs, states pay more through what are commonly called specialized, therapeutic, or treatment foster care rates. These tiers can run two to four times higher than standard rates. Monthly payments of $1,500 to $3,000 or more are common at the highest care levels, though the exact amount depends on the state and the assessed level of the child’s needs.
Most states categorize care levels into at least two or three tiers above the basic rate. A child with moderate behavioral needs might qualify for a “specialized” rate; a child needing round-the-clock supervision or medical equipment would qualify for the highest “therapeutic” tier. The caseworker and placing agency decide which tier applies based on clinical assessments. Foster parents providing therapeutic care usually complete extra training and work more closely with treatment teams.
What the Payment Is Meant to Cover
Federal law defines foster care maintenance payments as covering food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, personal incidentals, liability insurance for the child, and reasonable travel to the child’s home for visitation. States use that federal definition as a floor and can add their own allowable categories.
Day to day, the money is expected to cover groceries, age-appropriate clothing, a share of your housing and utilities, school expenses, personal hygiene items, and transportation for school, medical appointments, and family visits. It also accounts for your time providing daily supervision.
One point of confusion is worth flagging. Therapy, counseling, and clinical treatment are not paid from the maintenance payment. Those services are covered separately through the child’s Medicaid benefits. The higher rates for therapeutic care compensate for the added supervision and structure, not for the therapy itself.
Whether the maintenance payment fully covers your costs depends on where you live and the child’s needs. In higher-cost areas, foster parents often spend some of their own money. In lower-cost states, the stipend may cover expenses more comfortably. Most experienced foster parents will tell you not to go in expecting to break even every month.
Taxes: What You Keep
Qualified foster care payments are excluded from your gross income for federal tax purposes. That includes both the basic maintenance payment and any difficulty-of-care payments you receive for children with special needs. You do not report these amounts as income, and they are not subject to income tax or self-employment tax.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 131 – Certain Foster Care Payments
There is one exception. Payments you receive specifically to hold a bed open for emergency placements are taxable, because they compensate you for maintaining available space rather than for caring for a child in your home.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Publication 4694 – Raising Grandchildren May Impact Your Federal Taxes
Claiming the Child as a Dependent
You may also be able to claim a foster child as a dependent. A foster child placed in your home by a state agency, tribal government, licensed tax-exempt organization, or court order counts as a “qualifying child” for dependency purposes if the child lives with you for more than half the tax year.3Internal Revenue Service. Dependents
That opens the door to real money. The Child Tax Credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child for the 2025 tax year, and foster children are explicitly listed as eligible.4Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit Foster children also count as qualifying children for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can be worth several thousand dollars depending on your income and how many children you claim.5Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules Many foster parents miss these credits because they assume the tax-free payments mean there is nothing else to claim.
Medicaid Covers the Child’s Healthcare
Children in foster care who are eligible for Title IV-E federal assistance automatically qualify for Medicaid, with no income test applied to the foster family.6Medicaid.gov. Improving Timely Health Care for Children and Youth in Foster Care Coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental health services, so you are not paying out of pocket for the child’s healthcare or adding the child to your own plan.
Mental health services matter here. Many children entering foster care have experienced trauma, neglect, or abuse, and Medicaid pays for therapy, counseling, psychiatric evaluations, and medication management. These clinical services are funded through the child’s Medicaid benefits, separate from the monthly maintenance payment.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1396a – State Plans for Medical Assistance
Other Financial Support That Stacks on Top
Several programs help fill gaps beyond the monthly stipend and Medicaid.
- Initial and annual clothing allowances. Many states provide a one-time payment when a child is first placed, and some offer annual clothing allowances as well. Amounts vary and are typically a few hundred dollars.
- Respite care. Most states arrange for an approved caregiver to temporarily look after your foster child so you can take a short break. Some jurisdictions reimburse the respite provider directly; others build respite into the foster parent’s support plan at no cost to you.
- Childcare assistance. Foster parents who work or attend school can often access subsidized childcare through the federal Child Care and Development Fund. Children in foster care generally qualify for subsidies even when the foster family’s income would otherwise exceed the limits.
- WIC. Foster children under five who receive Medicaid, SNAP, or TANF benefits may already meet the income eligibility requirements for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.8Food and Nutrition Service. WIC Eligibility
What It Costs to Become a Foster Parent
Fostering through a public child welfare agency generally costs nothing out of pocket. The state pays for your home study, background checks, fingerprinting, and pre-service training. Most states require somewhere between 20 and 40 hours of pre-service training before licensing, provided free of charge.
Private foster care agencies sometimes charge fees for home studies, though they also tend to offer more support and may pay higher reimbursement rates. If you go the private route, ask up front about any costs.
Payments That Continue After Foster Care
If a foster child’s plan shifts from reunification to adoption and the child is determined to have “special needs” for adoption purposes, federal law provides for adoption assistance. That designation does not necessarily mean the child has a disability; more often it means the child is harder to place because of age, sibling group, race or ethnicity, or a medical condition.
Adoption assistance generally includes a monthly subsidy (often comparable to the foster care maintenance rate), continued Medicaid eligibility for the child, and reimbursement for certain one-time adoption costs. The subsidy is negotiated between the adoptive parents and the placing agency before the adoption is finalized, and it can continue until the child turns 18 or, in some states, 21. Adopting from foster care does not mean losing the financial support you had as a foster parent.
For older youth, the federal John H. Chafee Foster Care Program provides states with funding to support young people who were in foster care at age 14 or older as they move toward independent living. Services cover education, job training, financial literacy, housing, and daily living skills, and states can provide them to former foster youth between 18 and 21, or up to 23 in states with extended foster care.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 677 – John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood Chafee Education and Training Vouchers provide up to $5,000 per year for college or vocational training, with eligibility extending to age 26 under changes made by the Family First Prevention Services Act.10Urban Institute. Chafee Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program State ETV Profiles