Legal News

9th Circuit increases CA's responsibility for foster kids' care to 100 percent

By Richard Binder

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled yesterday that California should pay the full cost of care for thousands of children in group homes, reversing a lower court ruling finding that state payments covering 80 percent of the expense were sufficient.

The ruling applies to monthly payments for 64 of the 105 Ventura County youngsters living in group homes, based on a standard tied to family poverty. Most are adolescents, many of them struggling to overcome childhoods marked by abuse, neglect and abandonment. The court ruling would boost payments from an average of $4,529 per month per child to $5,661, a difference of $1,132, based on a recent fiscal analysis in Ventura County. The funding pays for services from room and board to intensive counseling.

Even so, the ruling does not change just yet. The 9th Circuit remanded the case back to federal district court for action.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on December 15, 2009 (boomark / email).