How Much Do Foster Parents Get Paid in Arizona?

Licensed foster parents in Arizona are paid a daily rate that works out to roughly $590 to $1,222 per month per child, with the exact figure depending on the child’s age. That base is what most people mean when they ask how much foster parents get paid in Arizona, but it is not the whole picture: the Department of Child Safety (DCS) adds a clothing and personal allowance to every placement, pays higher rates for children with medical or behavioral needs, offers separate allowances for specific expenses, and treats unlicensed kinship caregivers under a different (lower) schedule that is rising each year through 2028.

Base Monthly Pay for Licensed Foster Homes

DCS pays licensed foster parents, including licensed kinship homes, a daily base rate set by the child’s age on the first day of each month. The current rates are:

Birth through age 5: $19.68 per day, about $590 per month
Ages 6 to 11: $29.52 per day, about $886 per month
Ages 12 to 18 and older: $40.73 per day, about $1,222 per month

These payments are meant to cover food, shelter, supervision, and the daily costs of raising the child.¹

Clothing and Personal Allowance on Top of the Base

Every child in a licensed placement also generates a daily clothing and personal allowance, which is included automatically in the monthly payment. It adds roughly $19 to $80 per month depending on age.² Once you fold that allowance into the base, actual total payments run from about $628 per month for a preschooler up to about $1,326 per month for a teenager.

Higher Rates for Children With Greater Needs

Children with medical, behavioral, or developmental challenges qualify for enhanced daily rates. DCS assigns a service level based on the child’s profile, and the Placement Administration decides which tier applies. Base rates (before clothing and personal allowances) are:

Special 2: $23.52 per day for ages 0–5, $35.28 for ages 6–11, $44.10 for ages 12–18+
Special 3: $29.94 per day for ages 0–5, $44.91 for ages 6–11, $56.13 for ages 12–18+
Medically Complex: $35.75 per day for ages 0–5, $53.63 for ages 6–11, $67.04 for ages 12–18+

At the top of that scale, a medically complex teenager brings in roughly $2,011 per month in base payments alone.¹ Therapeutic foster homes operated through contracted agencies have separate rate structures set by DCS and involve additional training and agency support.

What Kinship Caregivers Get

Kinship caregivers who become licensed foster parents receive the same daily rates as any other licensed home. The pay is very different for unlicensed kinship caregivers, meaning relatives or people with a significant relationship to the child who take placement without completing full licensure.

Unlicensed kinship caregivers receive a flat daily base rate of $9.86 per child regardless of age, about $296 per month.¹ They also receive the same daily clothing and personal allowances as licensed homes.³

On top of that base, Arizona SB 1387 created a phased kinship stipend that rises each January:

January 1, 2025: $300 per child per month
January 1, 2026: $400 per child per month
January 1, 2027: $500 per child per month
January 1, 2028: $600 per child per month

The stipend is a meaningful boost over the older $296 rate for families who take placement without full licensure.⁴

Additional Allowances You Can Request

Beyond the monthly payment, DCS provides allowances for specific expenses. The clothing and personal allowance is automatic; the ones below require approval from your DCS Specialist or supervisor:

Emergency clothing allowance: up to $150 per child per state fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) when a child arrives without adequate clothing or loses clothes to fire, theft, or a similar event
Extra emergency clothing: up to an additional $100 per child per fiscal year for unforeseen needs
Diapers for special medical needs: up to $62.50 per month with medical documentation
Special needs allowance: up to $22.50 per fiscal year for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions
Graduation expenses: up to $220 for cap, gown, ring, yearbook, and related fees
Supplemental tuition: up to $165 per session for summer school or interim sessions at year-round schools

Each allowance has its own approval level within DCS, laid out in the Child Placement Rates and Special Allowances Approval Matrix.¹ The emergency clothing allowance resets each July 1.²

Benefits That Reduce Out-of-Pocket Costs

Health, Dental, and Behavioral Health Coverage

Foster children in Arizona are covered by the Mercy Care DCS Comprehensive Health Plan, a statewide plan that replaced the earlier Comprehensive Medical and Dental Plan in 2021.⁵ Medically necessary services, including care for children eligible for the Arizona Long Term Care System, are provided at no out-of-pocket cost to you.⁶

Childcare

Working foster parents can get childcare assistance through the Department of Economic Security. Families referred by DCS are not placed on the general waiting list.⁷ There is no formal copayment, but if your provider charges more than the DES reimbursement rate, you pay the difference.⁸

Respite Care

Licensed foster families get up to 300 hours (about 12.5 days) of respite care per fiscal year through a DCS-contracted foster home agency. Respite is available when you need a break, during a family emergency, when the child cannot travel with you, or when you attend required training. Your daily placement rate keeps being paid while the child is with the respite provider.⁹

When Payments Arrive

DCS sends a billing document around the first of each month covering the previous month’s care, showing the days the child was in your home and the authorized rate. You review it and, if needed, correct and resubmit it through the Guardian system. Once a correct billing document is submitted, payment usually processes within about 15 days.² Payments go by direct deposit, set up using the DCS Electronic Funds Transfer Authorization Agreement submitted to the DCS Payment Unit.¹⁰

Are Foster Care Payments Taxable?

Federal law excludes qualified foster care payments from gross income. Under 26 U.S.C. § 131, payments from a state foster care program for caring for a foster child in your home are not taxable, so you generally do not report them on your federal return.¹¹ Difficulty-of-care payments for children with physical, mental, or emotional challenges are also excluded. The statute caps the exclusion for foster individuals over age 19 at five per household, which rarely affects a typical family home.

A foster child who has lived with you for more than half the tax year can be a qualifying child for the Earned Income Tax Credit.¹² A foster child also meets the relationship test for the Child Tax Credit, which was worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child for tax year 2025. The 2026 amount may change depending on federal legislation, so verify the current figure with the IRS or a tax professional.¹³ Between tax-free placement payments and available credits, the take-home value of fostering is often better than the monthly rate suggests.

1
Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). Child Placement Rates and Special Allowances Approval Matrix
2
Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). Section 6 Financial Supports
3
Arizona Department of Child Safety. Chapter 4 Section 10 Out-of-Home Care Rates, Allowances and Payments
4
Arizona Legislature. SB1387 – 562R – Senate Fact Sheet
5
Arizona Department of Child Safety. Mercy Care DCS Comprehensive Health Plan
6
Arizona Department of Child Safety. What Services Are Covered by Mercy Care DCS Comprehensive Health Plan
7
Arizona Department of Economic Security. Child Care
8
Arizona Department of Child Safety. Child Care Services
9
Arizona Department of Child Safety. Respite Care for Children in Out-of-Home Care
10
Arizona Department of Child Safety. DCS Electronic Funds Transfer Direct Deposit Authorization Agreement
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 131 Certain Foster Care Payments
12
Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules
13
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit