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Press Release Foster Parent with a Media Advisory Original Word documents For Immediate Release Contact: 19 May 2005 Margaret Berglind, 217-528-4409 David Ormsby, 773-583-0963
Legislators, Foster Parents Urge Governor, Legislative Leaders to Boost Foster Kid Expenses by $4 Million �Caring for Foster Kids of 2005 with Dollars of 1999�(Springfield)�Rank-and-file state legislators, foster parents, and the state�s leading child welfare association today called on Governor Rod Blagojevich and General Assembly legislative leaders to provide a $4 million budget increase for foster children expenses�expenses which have failed to receive an increase for a fifth year in a row. �Illinois� volunteer foster parents are caring for foster kids of 2005 with dollars of 1999,� said Margaret Berglind, President of the Child Care Association of Illinois. The average monthly foster child expense reimbursement paid to Illinois� nearly 7,000 active foster parents caring for 16,000 children is $394 per month. �Foster parents�like all parents�can�t raise a child on $394 per month,� said Berglind. �To feed, to clothe and satisfy pre-teen and teen fashion peer demands, to subsidize school athletic expenses and to fill the gas tank to get kids to activities requires foster parents to dig into their own pocket, on average, $98 per month.� Berglind also noted the shrinking expense reimbursement value is making it harder to keep experienced foster parents and even harder to recruit the 1,000 new foster parents the state needs. �Increasingly, the state�s refusal to fully pay the costs of food, clothing, and other expenses related to raising a foster child is the primary reason the state is losing foster parents and failing to recruit new ones,� said Berglind. A bi-partisan group of suburban lawmakers�State Senator Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and Beth Coulson (R-Glenview) and Lou Lang (D-Skokie)�echoed Berglind�s sentiments. A $4 million increase would equal a 5% increase over last year�or $19.70 a month, Berglind estimates. �This money would help volunteer foster parents defray the cost of food, clothing and caring for abused and neglected children,� Berglind said. �The money will be well spent. Berglind also noted that Governor Blagojevich recently issued an executive order proclaiming May �Foster Parent Month.� -30-
MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: 19 May 2005 David Ormsby, 773-583-0963
Press Conference: Lawmakers, Foster Parents Urge Governor, Legislative Leaders to Hike Foster Kid Expenses by $4 Million �Caring for Foster Kids of 2005 with Dollars of 1999�(Springfield)�State legislators, foster parents, and the state�s leading child welfare association will call on Governor Rod Blagojevich and General Assembly legislative leaders to provide a $4 million budget increase for foster children expenses at a press conference on Thursday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m. A bi-partisan group of suburban lawmakers�State Senator Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and State Representatives Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines), Beth Coulson (R-Glenview) and Lou Lang (D-Skokie)�will join local foster parents and the Child Care Association of Illinois President, Margaret Berglind at the State House Blue Room. The state has failed to provide a foster child expense increase for a fifth year in a row. -30-
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