comments from ckaiser47:

The bigger point is being missed here. Your city would not be giving a hand out by offering free swim lessons to foster families. It would be helping to compensate people who provide your community with a service - a service that is both essential and only costs pennies to the dollar what group care costs. Give them the swim lessons. Little things like that attract more people to foster care, which saves the local dependency system - and the community it belongs to - in the long run.