Subsidized Guardianship - Summary & Analysis. INTRODUCTIONIn October 2. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2. Fostering Connections Act) unanimously became federal law. This Act is the most significant child welfare law in the last fifteen years. Among its many provisions, for the first time, it gives all states the option to use funds through Federal Title IV- E of the Social Security Act (Title IV- E) to finance guardianship assistance programs (GAP)- - otherwise known as subsidized guardianship - - to enable children in the care of grandparents and other relatives to exit foster care into permanent homes. Subsidized Guardianships Prior to Fostering Connections Act Prior to this new law, 3. Subsidized Guardianship Programs In CaliforniaDistrict of Columbia had some form of subsidized guardianship, primarily paid for using state or local funds, but in some states financed through federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) monies, Title XX Social Services block grant funds or through a waiver from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that specifically allowed them to use Title IV- E funds for their subsidized guardianship programs. The waiver program ended in 2. Prepared For: Cornerstone Consulting Group, Inc Houston, Texas. SUBSIDIZED PERMANENT GUARDIANSHIP SUBCOMMITTEE. Comparison of Transfer of Guardianship and Adoption (The below information pertains to DCF subsidized guardianship, permanent guardianship and adoption programs) Transfer Of Guardianship w/ relative Adoption Legal Status Birth. CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP PROGRAM Division 20 Program 600 Service 623 Chapter 10 North Dakota Department of Human Services Table of Contents Subsidized Guardianship Program 623-10 Introduction 623-10-01. FORM 45ESG/SG 1 SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP APPLICATION AND AGREEMENT 5.0 ASSISTED GUARDIANSHIP IN NORTH CAROLINA. Appendix C: Subsidized Guardianship Background Materials Subsidized Guardianships: Summary of State Programs Grandfamilies: Subsidized Guardianship Programs Fact Sheet Child Focus: Subsidized Guardianship Programs State. Case workers, judges, and lawyers were reluctant to move children from a reliable funding source - - Title IV- E foster care payments - - to funding that may not have continued to be available. Elements of Subsidized Guardianship Programs In general and under the new Title IV- E option, subsidized guardianships are designed for children and youth: who have been in foster care with a relative providing the care for at least six months for whom reunification with their parents and adoption are both ruled out as permanency options Subsidized guardianships give existing caregivers the opportunity to become the legal guardians of children, thereby replacing the state in that role. The court that considers the granting of a guardianship reviews the appropriateness and permanence of the placement and, in cases of older children, often seeks the input of the child as well. If the court finds that the guardianship is in the “best interest” of the child and grants it, the state no longer has custody and there is little or no child welfare agency oversight. The caregiver now stands in the shoes of the parent and can make all routine decisions without government oversight. The caregiver can consent to immunizations, sleepovers, school pictures, and sign report cards, all without asking social workers or judges for approval. The parent, moreover, retains certain rights and responsibilities, including the right to consent to adoption and the obligation of child support. State subsidized guardianships programs had seen a dramatic increase, quadrupling in the decade prior to the Fostering Connections Act. In 1996, about ten states had these programs; in 2000, the number of states grew to. STATES’ SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP LAWS AT A GLANCE October 2004 25 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 628-8787 www.childrensdefense.org. Private guardianship of foster children who otherwise. The evidence establishes subsidized guardianship as a cost-. The parent can also still visit with the child, unless the judge granting guardianship has limited that right due to the “best interest” of the child. Guardianship Payments After guardianship is granted, the state issues a monthly subsidy check to the guardian for the care of the child. Under the GAP option, the subsidy cannot exceed the foster care rate, states must pay non- recurring costs of legal guardianship (e. Medicaid. The subsidy payments usually end when the guardianship terminates or when the child turns 1. Responsive to Cultural and Family Concerns Subsidized guardianship programs provide an important permanency option for many children. An option that is responsive to long and proud Native American, Latino, and African- American traditions of stepping in to care for relatives when parents have been unable to care for the children. These programs are also sensitive to many other types of family concerns that prevent a child from being adopted: Adoption forever changes family dynamics. A process that must prove that that their own relative, the parent, is unfit, sever all of the birth’s parents legal ties to the child, and make the relative the “parent.” These caregivers are already family, and many wonder why should they be the “mother” or “father” when those people exist? They provide an important option to older foster children who in particular often want to maintain a relationship with their parents and do not want to sever all legal ties, possibly making it impossible for them to even visit. Less Expense to Taxpayers In addition to the benefits to grandfamilies, subsidized guardianship placements can be supported at less expense to all taxpayers because there are fewer administrative costs than with managing and overseeing an open foster care case. These costs are well spent to protect other children placed in short- term living arrangements where success and safety must be monitored, but are not necessary in successful long- term living arrangements where other permanency options have been ruled out. SUMMARY AND COMPARISON OF EXISTING STATE LAWSAlthough no state legislation is required to implement the GAP option under the Fostering Connections Act, some states have passed laws as a first step: Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, New York, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. See sample legislation. States Approved to Operate GAP Programs. In order to take the option, states are required to submit an amended Title IV- E State Plan to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services/Children's Bureau for its approval, and, as of May 2. District of Columbia, and six tribes - - the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe, the South Puget Intertribal Planning agency, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Navajo Nation, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians - - have been given final approval to operate GAP programs. The thirty- two states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Twenty- six of the states, and the District of Columbia, also allow children who are not Title IV- E eligible to exit foster care into subsidized permanent homes with relatives. In Michigan, immediately prior to the passage of the Fostering Connections Act, a new subsidized guardianship program was enacted, and state funding authorized, which will allow Michigan to cover non IV- E eligible children. Most of the thirty- two states and the District of Columbia that have been approved to take the GAP option had programs prior to the Fostering Connections Act and are simply modifying their existing programs to be able to use IV- E. Only Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Texas, and Vermont are completely new programs. However, it is worth noting that Vermont had a statutory provisions prior to the Act that did not establish a subsidized guardianship program per se, but allowed the department of social services to provide financial support after a guardianship was granted. The statute states: “. In 1. 99. 9, Louisiana established its program known as the “Kinship Care Subsidy Program,” financed throught its state grant of federal TANF funds. In 1. 99. 6, about ten states had these programs; in 2. Fostering Connections becoming law, 3. District of Columbia had programs. It was due to the success of many of these programs that advocates pursued and obtained federal financing of GAP through Title IV- E. Massachusetts started the subsidized guardianship trend with its program in 1. It began as a regional demonstration to provide permanence to teenagers living in stable foster homes who could not or did not want to be adopted. Three years into the demonstration, researchers found the majority of children thriving with their caregivers. Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and South Dakota have significant Native American populations who are reluctant to adopt children of living parents. Alaska and Hawaii also began their programs in response to unique populations with similar cultural traditions. These early programs served small numbers of children, but they provided an important alternative to children for whom reunification with parents or adoption was not possible. Although subsidized guardianship programs had been proven successful and the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1. Title IV- E waivers, the federal government did not provide federal reimbursement until the Fostering Connections Act. That financing situation created a strong disincentive for states to move children from a foster care system with reliable federal funds to a subsidized guardianship program that might not continue to be financed. As a result, prior to the Fostering Connections Act, 2. Each program has contributed significantly to its state’s reduction of children in long- term foster care. Between 1. 99. 9 and 2. Illinois and by 6. California. More states can accomplish this too if they implement the GAP option allowed by the Fostering Connections Act. PRACTICAL INFORMATIONAbout ten years before the Children's Bureau approved California to take the federal GAP option, California enacted its own subsidized guardianship program, known as Kin. GAP. The lessons learned from the enactment of Kin. GAP in 2. 00. 0 are still important and useful. According to Joni Pitcl and Kathy Watkins, professionals working to help grandfamilies in California, it was a convergence of factors that led to success enacting Kin. GAP: several reports were released pointing to the need for additional avenues to permanency, in addition to adoption, for grandfamilies; two statewide summits explored subsidized guardianships; data showed disproportionate numbers of minority children languishing in foster care; and a TANF surplus that required finding ways to reinvest those federal funds. The TANF surplus is what caused California to start thinking seriously about subsidized guardianship. Around the same time, California happened to have a “working summit” on grandfamilies and a state summit on adoptions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
Categories |