Hi all! I’m looking forward to hopefully starting the process of becoming a foster parent next year (waiting to become a Permanent Resident of Canada next spring) and I had a question:

How much should I save as a starter fund for foster care? Obviously, I’ll be financially stable and stuff like rent/utilities will be budgeted for separately. I’m someone who likes budgeting specific numbers for goals.

A bit about me: I’m single and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. I’m graduating college next month and will be working as a library technician. I plan to foster teenagers (particularly LGBT teens) and want to give them as normal a life as possible. So I’d like to provide them with a phone, laptop, car, normal high school experiences, etc. I’ll be living in Ontario.

With all of that in mind how much should I save? I’m thinking around 10,000$ but I’m not sure if that’s too little. As I live in Canada things like medical will be fully funded by the government and hopefully college as well.

Thanks in advance! This is a huge undertaking and I’ve been preparing myself for it for years. I mentor a great teenager through Big Brothers Big Sisters; am hopefully going to be working in a high school library; and read and educate myself by prioritizing voices of adoptees and current/former foster youth. I really feel like this is what I was meant to do, and I am so excited to start!