Grandma volunteers to be the foster parent (family members get preference). Grandma then gets funds from the foster care agency for taking care of the kid. In New York, for example, the basic reimbursment rate is $17-$23/day depending on age. If the child is deemed "special needs", the rate can go up from $37 to $57/day (about a third of foster kids are judged "special needs").
That adds up to a yearly $6,205 to $20,805 PER CHILD, just in BASELINE payments. This does not include the free school meals, clothing allowances, and other payments. So grandma can stay home with the kids as her "job", while mom gets welfare for the kids which she keeps and does not put up for welfare.
Don’t forget subsidized child care here in New York...
Excerpt:
ALBANY — The daughter of County Legislator Wanda Willingham surrendered to authorities Tuesday on charges she defrauded Social Services of more than $2,000 regarding day care for her four children.
Fay Willingham, 31, of Third Street, Albany, turned herself in at the sheriff’s Voorheesville substation around 9 a.m., acting Sheriff Craig Apple said.
She was charged with felony counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree welfare fraud and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.
It is alleged she did not report to the county Department of Social Services when she took time off from work, and Social Services continued to pay her father, Elijah Willingham, for babysitting her children.
http://blog.timesunion.com/localpolitics/10067/10067/
FRAUD and ABUSE!
Criminals.