Op/Ed: SLT should pass a bond to help children in foster care

Some children live a life characterized by habit and routine. Imagine them being forced to leave their life behind all because there wasn’t enough space and funding. This is what foster children in Lake Tahoe are forced deal with. Primarily, SLT should pass a General Obligation Bond, and, though the cost of raising a child is exorbitant, this cost could be ameliorated by support from passing a General Obligation Bond measure.

There are serious problems with foster care, and it’s not just in Tahoe. Financial strain has been a huge issue for foster care, as there simply just isn’t enough money to help the hundreds of thousands of foster children. The reality is, for the last 18 years, the state’s reimbursement for foster care has fallen woefully short of its minimum goals. Foster care simply doesn’t have the money right now to support the masses of children coming through the foster care system. The demand is becoming so high, that soon the children will suffer, since all needs cannot be met. Furthermore, in the perspective of foster children, it’s unlikely that foster kids would enjoy living in dormitory-type houses with twenty-plus kids. These children need to be with a safe and loving, family. Many kids, instead of going to a foster family in big cities, would most likely enjoy coming to great communities such as South Lake Tahoe. However, the problem with increasing the amount of foster children in Tahoe, is that there are far fewer foster parents or facilities to take in a great amount of kids. Tahoe simply doesn’t have the personnel currently to help foster these children. Accordingly, there are several important responsibilities involved in raising children, and the average cost of raising a child, per year, is $245,340. That is extremely pricey, and is understandable as to why so many people are reticent to become a part of the Foster Care system. While money is a major issue, there can be ways to ameliorate reimbursement for parents, which, in turn, would increase the number of foster parents we would see in Tahoe.

Regarding adoption, with all the fiscal responsibilities and the time and effort it takes to raise a child, it is understandable that so many people are reluctant to become foster parents. In order to change this situation, the South Lake Tahoe community must pass a bond measure to help reimburse the foster parents for all of the time and effort they put into raising the child. Raising a child is not an easy task. Parents have to cook, clean, help with homework, and teach them life skills that will help them succeed, not to mention the enormous cost. Not many people are willing to do such tasks for children that aren’t their own. However, referring to location, raising a child would be much better in places such as Lake Tahoe, due to a great, local community, and great education. In order to increase the amount of support to parents with foster children, the community must reimburse them. True, the children get dental and health insurance covered, but that barely scrapes the beginning costs of raising a child. The community must pass a bond, and one that would work well is a General Obligation bond. General Obligation bonds fund projects are typically repaid in thirty years, but it could be shorter. Placing a general obligation bond measure for foster care on a local ballot (and passing it) would greatly increase the amount of funds available to foster families. With these funds, counties could reimburse foster parents to a far greater extent than the reimbursement plan of $21,04- $26,27 in California, increasing the likelihood that people would volunteer to be foster parents. Counties could also build or buy foster homes, allowing a larger capacity for children. Therefore, this bond would increase the amount of foster children in Lake Tahoe’s community, bringing the lack of funding, adopting, and space closer to resolution. If we could help fund foster parents for all the time and effort they’re putting in, then we would see foster parents increase monumentally, and great communities such as Lake Tahoe would have foster kids raised in a safe, loving environment.

Overall, insufficient funding and the extreme cost of raising a child causes foster children to suffer, for this reason, the community of Lake Tahoe passing a General Obligation Bond would largely support this foster care problem. In Lake Tahoe, foster children suffer from being forced to leave the basin due to availability. Passing a General Obligation Bond in the community and getting the money in a political sense would greatly benefit the foster children them in Tahoe, a safe home.

By Bailey Barcellos,
South Tahoe High School Junior