(California federal) Judge orders state to boost foster payments

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Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(05-31) 17:18 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge has ordered California to increase payment rates immediately to thousands of foster parents, noting that it has been more than 2 1/2 years since he ruled that the state's reimbursement levels failed to cover the costs of raising a child.

State officials "have now had a full and fair opportunity to come into compliance with federal law. They have not done so," U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said Friday.

He told the state Department of Social Services to raise its rates to levels specified in a UC Davis study of foster children's needs, which the state commissioned in response to the court case. For a child up to 4 years old, the reimbursement would increase to $609 a month from $446. Rates are higher for older children, and would climb to $761 from $627 for youths ages 15 to 19.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/31/BAG41JNOSK.DTL