Provisions of The
Kinship Caregiver Support Act (S. 661/H.R. 2188)
- Establishes a Kinship Navigator Program, which will help link relative caregivers, both inside and outside of
the formal child welfare system, to a broad range of services and supports that will help them meet the needs of the children
in their care. It also will help agencies more effectively and efficiently serve kinship care families. State or local
agencies, agencies serving large metropolitan areas, and Indian tribal organizations or a consortium of tribal organizations
may apply for the competitive grants.
- Establishes a Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program, which will give states the option to use federal funds
for subsidized guardianship payments to certain relative caregivers on behalf of the children they are raising in foster care.
State agencies must take steps to rule out return home or adoption for the children and take other steps to ensure that this
placement is the best permanency alternative for the child.
- Allows states to establish separate licensing standards for relative foster parents and non-relative foster parents,
provided both sets of standards protect children and include criminal record checks. This provision recognizes that certain
licensing standards for non-relative foster parents, such as requiring a separate bedroom for each child, may not be appropriate
for foster parents who are related to the child.
- Requires state child welfare agencies to provide notice within 60 days of the removal of a child from the custody
of the child’s parents, to all adult grandparents and other relatives of the child, subject to exceptions due to
family or domestic violence.
- Expands eligibility for the education elements of the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to include youths exiting from foster care to legal
guardianship. This helps current and former foster care youths gain access to higher education through tuition assistance
in the form of Education and Training Vouchers (ETV).
Background
Approximately 2.5 million children are being cared for by grandparents and
other relatives without either parent present. One in five of these children live below the poverty line and many of
the caregivers live on fixed incomes, but only about 30% receive any public financial support. Of the more than half a million
children in foster care, about a quarter are living with relatives. Research shows that children raised in foster care with
relatives fare well. When compared with children in foster care with non-relatives, children in relative foster care are:
just as safe or safer, less likely to have multiple placements, more likely to stay connected with siblings, and less likely
to change schools. Unfortunately, under current federal law the caregivers of these children are likely to lose the financial
assistance they received as foster parents to meet the needs of the child if they become legal guardians and provide permanent
homes for the children. S. 661/H.R. 2188 provide access to important supportive services for relatives caring for children
in foster care, and those helping to keep children out of foster care.
To
co-sponsor the Kinship Caregiver Support Act,
Contact
Members of Congress;
HOUSE:
Danny K. Davis (202) 225-5006
or email
Jill Hunter- Williams Jill.Hunter-Williams@mail.house.gov
Timothy V. Johnson (202) 225-2371 or email
Jennifer
Masho Jennifer.Mascho@mail.house.gov
SENATE:
Hillary Clinton (202) 224-4451 or email Chelsea Maughan Chelsea_maughan@clinton.senate.gov
Olympia Snowe (202) 224-5344 or
email
Amy Pellegrino Amy_pellegrino@snowe.senate.gov
The following organizations support the Kinship Caregiver Support Act and can be reached
for additional information:
AARP: Larry White, lwhite@aarp.org 202-434-3813
Alliance for Children
and Families: Patrick Lester, plester@alliance1.org 202-429-0400
Child Welfare League of America: Branden Mcleod,bmcleod@cwla.org703-412-2400
Children’s
Defense Fund: Heather Swope, HSwope@childrensdefense.org 202-662-3568
Center for Law and Social Policy:Tiffany Conway, tconway@clasp.org 202-906-8031
County Welfare Directors Association of California
and the Public Children ServiceAssociation of Ohio: Tom Joseph, tj@wafed.com 202-898-1444
Generations United: Jaia Peterson Lent, jlent@gu.org 202-289-3979
LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Legislative initiatives and accomplishments include having the White Paper and resolution crafted
by our President Pat Owens, make the final 10 resolutions adopted by the Presidents Conference On Aging in 2005. President
Pat Owens helped craft the Kinship Caregiver Support Act notification component now before the 110th Congress,
which would mandate across the country notification to relatives of relative children being taken into state custody and open
the courts to them for consideration of placement and CINA hearings. President, Pat Owens, has been instrumental in crafting
and passage of the landmark notification, sibling reunification, school enrollment and access to medical treatment
legislation in her state of Maryland
Our Vice-President Sharon Olson of Minnesota helped craft and pass Minnesota’s
Defacto Custodian Law custody bill, which now serves as the template for other states who are seeking the same. Her latest
legislative focus includes the right of siblings to have a relationship and a statewide navigator program. She continues to
monitor legislation and policies affecting grandparents and other relatives raising children.
GrandFamilies of America members were the only caregivers who
had their testimony on child welfare reform included in the transcripts of hearings held by Congressman Herger last spring.
Having our regional office in Maryland makes it possible
for easy access to Washington, D. C. We have developed a very good system to identify effective legislators both within our
states and federally and are known to both our state and federal legislators charged with overseeing these issues.
Anne Pierce, our state leader in California, has put the issues of relatives raising relative children front and center in her state, as well as
heading the law guardianship clinics in her area and surrounding areas. She teaches them herself and is recognized by the
court to be the expert in this field.
And last, but certainly not least are the accomplishments of
the people of Delaware under the direction of Grandparents United of Delaware and Tina Light.They are now spear-heading
stand-by guardianship for the state of Delaware. They have
also announced their own Guardian Assistance Program ( GAP). Pro Bono Attorney's will handle Family Court cases for guardianship,
permanent guardianship, T. P .R. and adoption for low income Delaware
residents. This will be available for grandparents, and other relatives who seek to raise a relative child deemed at risk.
The program will pilot in New Castle County
& statewide in 2008.This is a non funded program by neither state nor federal monies.
