@sozobe,
sozobe wrote:
Quote:A proposal by Hillsdale County Republican Sen. Bruce Caswell to allow foster children to purchase clothing only at secondhand stores has been amended.
Quote:Senator Caswell initially proposed issuing a gift card for the clothing allowance for resale shops in order to ensure the money would actually go toward purchasing clothing.
Quote:“My sole goal in this proposal is to make sure that children receive the clothing allowance that the state has provided for them and not have it used for anything else,” said Caswell."
I do like that an effort is being made to make sure the money that should be for clothes will go for clothes. Kids need to be able to have some clothing they've selected.
I can see that it's not going to be that easy.
There are definitely stores like Old Navy and Foot Locker that would qualify as being clothing/footwear only. Inexpensive to begin with, but the quality's not tremendous. I definitely find better quality at almost every thrift shop around here. It could be the neighbourhood, but always a good selection for kids (it probably is the neighbourhood).
Thrifts don't necessarily only sell used clothing - many of them get donations of new goods regularly. The good Goodwill by me is on the edge of a small industrial area - the original Roots factory is in there among other small manufacturers. Once their annual blowout sale is over, everything left in the plant is donated to Goodwill. Some of my best hoodies have come from that Goodwill.
If the only way to make sure the kids get clothes v something the foster parents decide is more important is the thrift card option, then I'd go with it.
I'd rather see them develop another option, but I would like to see a clothing allowance for the kids separated from the bulk of money assigned to the foster home.
