Plan would require foster children to shop for clothing in thrift stores

[DrPhil]

Thrift stores only have what people in that area have given to the thrift stores. Some thrift stores have great selections and others are cringeworthy by some standards because people have donated cringeworthy clothes...or people in that area dress cringeworthy. LOL.

Some thrift stores (national and local stores) are more expensive than others. Goodwills tend to be more expensive than Salvation Army.

[IndianaSigKap]

As a teacher, I haven't seen size addressed. Many times thrift stores don't have a wide range of sizes. We had a local family lose everything in a house fire and the one of the two foster children was a young man of considerable size. He wore larger sizes and his shoes were so large that no thrift store had any to fit him. Often times, the availability of certain sizes would be a disadvantage of this type of policy. I hate to see something like this be mandated.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by 33girl

How old of children is this?

Does Plato's Closet count as a thrift store?

Re uniforms, from what I see nowadays, it's less the "issued" uniforms (i.e. all from the same company) than "wear a white polo shirt and khaki pants." In the case of the latter, you damn sure can tell who has the more expensive items. I'm guessing this started because parents thought old-fashioned uniforms were too expensive but it kind of backfired.

DrPhil - I just got a Cititrends very near me. Might I ask why it's cringeworthy?

This is any age child who is in a foster home, from infants to 17 year olds.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Thrift stores only have what people in that area have given to the thrift stores. Some thrift stores have great selections and others are cringeworthy by some standards because people have donated cringeworthy clothes...or people in that area dress cringeworthy. LOL.

Some thrift stores (national and local stores) are more expensive than others. Goodwills tend to be more expensive than Salvation Army.

It's not even just what people in the area have given, Salvation Army in our area specifically sorts "nice" things to a specific store. Nice being more expensive or quality items and more professional or expensive clothes Even thrift stores are marketing their goods to their customers.

ETA: Just got a Cititrends here too. Not familiar with the brand either.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

It's not even just what people in the area have given, Salvation Army in our area specifically sorts "nice" things to a specific store. Nice being more expensive or quality items and more professional or expensive clothes Even thrift stores are marketing their goods to their customers.

ETA: Just got a Cititrends here too. Not familiar with the brand either.

Yeah these thrift stores cater to specific clientele and the owners know where the clientele live and work. We always knew which thrift stores to patron because those are the stores that had the good stuff even if it cost a bit more.

Cititrends' name is exactly how it operates. CITY+TRENDS.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

Ok crazy I was just explaining to HoneyKiss how the allowance works as I know it. My cousin is a foster parent in MI and she gets around $450 a month from the state to spend as she pleases. If she wanted to spend all the money on clothes she probably could but she chooses to buy diapers and groceries. She also spends quite a bit of her own money as well.

This is nothing new, these politricks, a "look at us saving the taxpayers money" move to appease people worried about state deficits.I do like the idea of the state negotiating clothing discounts for them and if that ends up being the outcome of this, then I hope they don't STFU.

Thanks for the detail PiKA2001. The bolded part is basically what I was alluding to - politicians raising a stink over something that is basically a drop in the bucket (in terms of the big picture) so that it seems like they are doing something. I agree with Drolefile that a system of checks and balances should suffice as opposed to mandates.

As I've gotten older, I really get bothered how some people/politicians continuously use our country's poor/lower income class as the scapegoat for problems (ex. Budget deficits, increase in crime, etc.). Well seeing how it’s usually fear that motivates people to vote a certain way and not the truth, I’m not too surprised.