Thanks for the very detailed response. It is very helpful. My summary assessment is that only expenses that exceeded reimbursement could ever be considered as deductible. And then it would have to meet a variety of other tests. Generally our expenses do not exceed the reimbursement so the other tests aren't really necessary.
FWIW, we are a couple who volunteered to be foster parents strictly to help out kids who need a safe place to live while the adults in their lives (including the social workers, etc.) work out a permanent safe living arrangement for them. No family connections, no adoption, not a "professional" foster parent. The kids were with us for less than 6 months in 2020 so not eligible as dependents. We work though the county health and human services which qualifies as an entity for charitable donations. But we are not going to worry about any potential small deduction if we track every expense to see if it exceeds reimbursement. We volunteered to help kids and our future generations. I just wanted to verify I wasn't leaving any potential tax benefit on the table as an afterthought.
