J. > It's been a busy few days for me,
J. > deposing a couple in perhaps the
J. > most bizarre insurance dispute
J. > I've ever been involved in.
J. >
J. > A personally disturbing element
J. > of the case is the fact that the
J. > couple were, until 2 years ago,
J. > foster parents to a special needs
J. > child who had lived with them
J. > for many years.  Yet, when I
J. > asked the woman to detail her
J. > employment history, she
J. > unequivocally characterized her
J. > foster care as her employment
J. > for more than 10 years.  The
J. > child appears to have been little
J. > more than a source of revenue,
J. > producing between $1100 and $1400
J. > US per month, of which less
J. > than $400 was viewed as intended
J. > to pay for the child's needs.  The
J. > balance was viewed as, in essence,
J. > non-taxable salary.  (A PCA also
J. > was authorized, for up to 60
J. > hours per week.  Family members
J. > typically filled that role as well.)
J. >
J. > At the end of the child's period
J. > of foster care, she slept on a
J. > daybed in the home's main entryway,
J. > while biological family members
J. > shared the three bedrooms.
J. >
J. > It's not appropriate for me to share
J. > any more details at this time.
J. > But those details, and this peek
J. > into the life of this little girl,
J. > makes me glad that the couple is
J. > no longer licensed to provide
J. > foster care.

RKB > I'm coming to the conclusion that
RKB > money corrupts even more than power.

Years ago a foster contractor was quoted
as saying to others that if they just got
one more foster kid they could quit their job.

The kid you described (requiring a health aide)
would be categorized as "special needs" which
makes it easier to get housing grants to build
on another room, and many other benefits.

Fosters are insured like a business and
granted vacation relief like a business.

Told you so.