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| Categories | Number of Total Programs | Subsidized Guardianship | Non-Subsidized Guardianship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year Established | |||
| Before 1998 | 26 | 11 | 15 |
| 1998 or later | 24 | 16 | 8 |
| Information not obtained | 7 | 7 | -- |
| Funding Sources a | |||
| TANF Funds | 14 | 10 | 4 |
| Other Fed. Funds | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| State Funds | 27 | 14 | 13 |
| Local Funds | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Private Funds | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Information not obtained | 9 | 9 | -- |
| Numbers Served | |||
| 500+ Families | 8 | 2 | 6 |
| <500 Families | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 500+ Children | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| <500 Children | 15 | 13 | 2 |
| Information not obtained | 12 | 12 | -- |
| Geographic Area Served | |||
| Statewide | 38 | 30 | 8 |
| Multiple Localities | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Single Locality | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Information not obtained | 4 | 4 | -- |
| Program Outcomes (a, b) | |||
| Preventing Foster Care Placement | 17 | 17 | |
| Increasing Stability of Kinship Care Placement | 21 | 21 | |
| Increasing Permanency of Kinship Care Placement | 18 | 18 | |
| Reunifying Children with Biological Parents | 8 | 8 | |
| Improving Well-Being of Kinship Care Children | 21 | 21 | |
| Improving Well-Being of Kinship Care | 20 | 20 | |
| Eligibility Requirements | |||
| Specific Eligibility Requirements | 46 | 34 | 12 |
| All Persons Are Eligible | 11 | -- | 11 |
| Groups Served(a ,b) | |||
| TANF Clients | 9 | 9 | |
| Child Welfare Clients | 22 | 22 | |
| Other Agency Clients | 0 | 0 | |
| Community Kin | 16 | 16 | |
| Families Self-Refer | 7 | 7 | |
| Services Provided (a, b) | |||
| Health | 7 | 7 | |
| Education | 17 | 17 | |
| Mental Health/Counseling | 10 | 10 | |
| Child Care/Respite Care | 14 | 14 | |
| Financial Assistance | 10 | 10 | |
| Services Referred (a, b) | |||
| Health | 20 | 20 | |
| Education | 20 | 20 | |
| Mental Health | 20 | 20 | |
| Child Care/Respite Care | 18 | 18 | |
| Financial Assistance | 19 | 19 | |
| Administration | |||
| Private | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Public | 48 | 34 | 14 |
| a Total includes multiple responses
from some programs. b Information not obtained from subsidized guardianship programs. |
|||
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI) is a private, non-profit kinship foster care agency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania established in 1994. The agency provides services in Allegheny County to kinship care families, the children in their care, and birth parents referred by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF).
The agency's primary goal is to promote family wellness and provide culturally responsive services through their holistic approach. Additionally, ASCI will assist all communities in their efforts to preserve healthy families and support all children in their right to have a permanent, consistent, and stable family environment. The agency's mission is to increase the reunification of children with their birth families whenever possible and to promote adoption and long-term kinship foster care when necessary for a more permanent status for children.
All families must be referred by CYF within four days of a child's placement with kin. At intake and assessment, ASCI determines whether the referral is appropriate. The program rarely serves special needs children when they would be more appropriately served through a therapeutic home, as they do not directly provide the type of intensive services needed in such cases. ASCI does not work with sexually abused children until criminal hearings are completed. From the start, program staff work with the entire "triad"--the birth parent, child, and kinship caregiver.
A Second Chance can work with no more than 1200 children at a time, as mandated by CYF. In December 2000, the program had 712 children enrolled in services.
A Second Chance, Inc. is a private non-profit kinship foster care agency. A nine-member board of directors and an advisory board provide agency oversight. The founder serves as the president and chief executive officer.
A Second Chance staff stay in close contact with CYF workers who handle all legal aspects of each case. CYF remains the legal entity responsible for all children referred to ASCI. ASCI staff notify CYF of any changes in family status and provide monthly and quarterly reports describing each child's progress.
ASCI employs a strength-based approach to service delivery and provides a wide variety of services and has several key efforts including:
While the intensive case management services are available only to families referred by CYF, informal kin can take advantage of the information and referral service, the clothing bank, support groups, and other supportive services.
Another key component of ASCI is their program for certifying relatives as foster parents. One of ASCI's main accomplishments has been to design training that accommodates the special needs of kin. ASCI has created many options including one-on-one training in the kinship caregiver's home.
The majority of ASCI's funding comes from CYF (IV-E funding). The program receives a set payment per child based on a level system. Residual funds go back into the program and are used for the adoption and reunification components, as well as other activities. Additional funding has come through grants from several foundations, including the Pittsburgh Foundation, the City of Pittsburgh/Youth Works, and the Junior League of Greater Pittsburgh. ASCI is also the administrative agency for the Federal Adoption Opportunities Grant that CYF received.
Dr. Sharon McDaniel
Executive Director
A Second Chance, Inc.
204 North Highland Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
412/665-2300
Denver, Colorado
The Grandparents and Kinship Program in Denver, Colorado grew out of a grassroots, informal support network begun in 1993 and first received TANF funding in 1999 by the Department of Human Services, Family Employment and Resources Division (the TANF agency). The program serves only kinship families residing in the City and County of Denver.
The Grandparents and Kinship Program is designed to assist persons who have assumed primary child raising responsibility for their grandchildren and/or relative kin by providing professional and peer support, informational, educational, financial, and advocacy services to support them in successfully raising their grandchildren and kin. The primary goals are to:
Both the child and the relatives are considered the primary clients of the program. Program requirements include the following:
Denver's Grandparents and Kinship Program operates within a specialized unit of the TANF agency and is staffed mainly by TANF eligibility workers. Program staff collaborate with the Family and Children's Services Division (also within the Department of Human Services) and outside agencies, particularly Catholic Charities. The Program funds Catholic Charities to develop and facilitate grandparent support groups throughout Denver.
Referrals come primarily from TANF workers but continuing attempts to collaborate with the Family and Children's Services Division have increased referrals from this division. Community advocates at local family resource centers also make referrals to the program.
Services include a monthly "child-only case supportive payment," clothing allowances, transportation assistance, support groups, respite care, recreation services, professional and peer support, informational, educational, financial, and advocacy services. Referrals are made for mental health services, medical services, legal services, and child care.
Participants receive a monthly supportive payment for each relative child in the home. As of August 1, 1999, the TANF grant standard for one child in a child-only case was $99; the additional supportive payment was $313. An additional $40 payment is given per child in a one- or two-child size household. In contrast, foster care payments range from $369 to $1,000 per month per child depending upon the child's level of need. Under the Grandparents and Kinship Program, a relative home with one child receives an amount close to the foster care payment; payments for more than one child are lower than the foster care payment. Additional emergency financial assistance is available to relative families and can be used for new tires, car repairs, home repairs, etc. There is no limit per family except for an annual clothing allowance of $1000.
Services most frequently accessed (other than financial and grandparent support groups) are clothing allowances, assistance with educational issues, and referrals for child and family counseling. There is no waiting list for any services and the program has the capacity to serve many more grandparents and families. Timeframes within which families can begin receiving some type of services varies from worker to worker depending on their availability and caseload. Ideally, the program manager would like to see all families receive some sort of assistance within a week of intake. Beds and clothing are often needed quickly as some children arrive at the home with few clothes or other personal items. Mental health services often are requested a few months after the child arrives in the home. Clients are encouraged to access the TANF agency's "Family Counseling Program," an in-house mental health program for TANF recipients.
The Grandparents Program is entirely TANF-funded (from the TANF block grant and surplus funds) and administered (operating expenses are funded through general administrative funds). The total budget for the Grandparents and Kinship Program equals approximately $269,000 per month for the child-only TANF payments and an additional $200,000 per month for the kin supplemental payment. There are approximately 1,300-1,400 families in the total caseload with an average household having two children.
Twilla Stiggers
Family Employment and Resources Division, Department of Human Resources
1200 Federal Boulevard
Denver, CO 80204
720/944-2116
twilla.stiggers@dhs.co.denver.co.us
Florida
Florida's statewide Relative Caregiver Program was first implemented in 1998 when state child abuse statutes were rewritten to conform with the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act requirements. The Relative Caregiver Program was included in the rewritten statute and provides for the same oversight by the courts for foster children and children in the Relative Caregiver program. Case plans have to be developed and adhered to for both groups of children, eliminating informal relative placements.
The Relative Caregiver Program is meant to serve children who, without the caregivers, would otherwise be in foster care. State level administrators noted that the Relative Caregiver Program is the nexus of the public welfare and child welfare system. Families in the Relative Caregiver Program receive financial payments from the public welfare system and are monitored (at a minimum for six months) by the child welfare system. One of the major goals of the program is permanency for children.
The program's primary clients are the children and caregivers are provided with a higher stipend and directed to spend the monthly payment on the child. Initially, the child welfare agency had concerns about the program's eligibility requirements wanting to make sure that the program was a feasible alternative to foster care, and that the requirements would not be too difficult for the relatives to meet. The TANF agency also had concerns about the program, fearing that the program might provide an incentive for parents to not comply with work requirements or hand their children over to relatives in order to receive a payment. These concerns are why the program is limited to children who were adjudicated dependent and placed with relatives.
The following eligibility rules apply to Florida's Relative Caregiver Program:
In Florida, all child welfare policy is developed by the state Department of Children and Families. While there is variation across districts, districts are primarily responsible for operations and are rarely involved in program planning. Each of the 15 districts in Florida is implementing the Relative Caregiver Program slightly differently. The department intentionally designed the program to have de-centralization and devolution because it believed that the local programs should have plenty of input into the operations.
The Relative Caregiver Program has two primary components: the Relative Caregiver Payment and case management. Additionally, children are eligible for Medicaid and day care. Currently, the Relative Caregiver payment rate is approximately 76 percent of the 2000 foster care payment though representing only 65 percent of the total foster care payment plus incidentals.
State administrators noted that they continue to emphasize that participation in the Relative Caregiver Program means more than merely receipt of monthly cash assistance. Children and Family Counselors are responsible for case managing all relative caregiver cases. Relative cases can be carried by any worker and the current caseload is approximately 25 families per worker.
Once long-term relative placement is achieved, the case worker can terminate supervision of the family (after a mandatory six month period). The court retains jurisdiction in these cases until the child reaches 18 years of age. Relatives who assume legal guardianship of the children in their care continue to be eligible for the relative caregiver payment.
Other services provided by the Relative Caregiver Program include the child's eligibility for Medicaid and day care subsidy. Workers noted that perhaps the primary reason relatives apply to the Relative Caregiver Program is to obtain Medicaid for the child. Day care subsidies are available for working relatives (until the child turns 12) and, unlike regular TANF cases, are not based on the relative's income.
Florida's Relative Caregiver Program is funded entirely with TANF funds. There is no administrative budget for staffing and there is no special funding at the District level.
Nelson Simmons
Florida Department of Children and Families
Family Safety Program Office
1317 Winewood Blvd.
Tallahassee FL 32399
850/922-0375
Kentucky
Kentucky's formal, child welfare administered Kinship Care Program is a program for kin caring for children that have been removed from their parent's home due to safety concerns. The program was piloted in 1998 in three counties and full state implementation began in August 2000.
The Kinship Care Program seeks to increase the use of kinship care, increase the stability of relative placements, and ensure timely permanency of kinship care children. The program seeks to avoid having the state take custody of children that can safely be cared for by relatives.
The Kinship Care Program targets:
Program requirements include:
The Kinship Care program is state administered and operated through the local social services offices. While the local offices must follow the state Kinship Care regulations, they are not required by the central office to use their staff in any particular way to meet the needs of the Kinship Care program. Some localities use staff from their home evaluation units, others only use staff from ongoing services units. Family support staff, or K-TAP (TANF) workers, usually determine eligibility. Ongoing supervision is conducted by a child welfare worker who is not specialized in kinship care.
The Kinship Care Program provides a payment of $300/month per child (up to 6 children). The payment continues until the child is 19 if still in high school. A one time start-up payment of up to $500/child is available "for the purpose of supplying each child's immediate need for clothing, school supplies, additional furniture, a deposit on a larger apartment or other items or services needed to assist the child in establishing himself in the new environment." Approximately 75-80% of the families in the program receive this payment. In addition, preventive assistance funds up to $500/family are available once per year. Effective December 1, 2000, if a caregiver receives TANF for one child and takes care of a sibling through the Kinship Care Program, then both children become eligible for the Kinship Care payment.
In the Kinship Care Program, when a child is placed with a relative, there is 6 months of caseworker involvement (this was originally set at 2 months and then extended). They believe this makes it less intrusive than the foster care caseworker involvement. The relative can choose to become a foster parent. The levels of supervision in the Kinship Care program and foster care programs are different. The child is not committed to the state in the Kinship Care program and thus there is less supervision. However, the services provided are fairly similar. The services provided by the program include day care, mental health, respite care, and all other services given to non-kin families. There is no waiting list for services. Families in the program are also eligible for either Medicaid or K-Chip.
The Kinship Care program is entirely TANF funded, $8 million in 2000. The program is adequately funded for this year; however, it is unknown how caseloads will accumulate over time. The Cabinet did consider applying for a IV-E waiver because of the options it would give them but did not apply because HHS limits waivers, and because they did not want to wait for the random sampling that occurs with demonstration projects.
Viola Miller
Secretary
Cabinet for Families & Children
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY 40621
502/564-7130
Kentucky
Kentucky's KinCare Project is a statewide program of grandparent support groups operated through a partnership between the Office of Family Resource and Youth Service Centers, the Office of Aging, and the Cooperative Extension Service. The partnership received Brookdale Foundation funding in 1998.
The stated mission of the KinCare Project is to "make it easier for grandparents to again be parents." The program's operational mission is to develop a network of grandparent support groups in which the grandparents themselves take ownership of the groups, bringing together whatever resources are needed to meet local needs.
The KinCare Project targets all non-parents needing support in parenting, but is mainly focused on grandparents raising grandchildren. There are no requirements for participation in the KinCare program.
The KinCare program operates through the local Family Resource and Youth Service Centers which are located in the public schools. A statewide steering committee provides guidance and direction. The steering committee was mandated under the Brookdale Foundation grant, but state officials realized it was important that the program find a means for ongoing support and that a steering committee was needed to provide long-term vision and direction. The committee has recently been enlarged and two subcommittees have been formed. The Program and Services Subcommittee is charged with developing grass roots strategies and models for communities wanting to implement the support groups to follow. The Legislative/Policy subcommittee is focused on identifying and pushing a grandparents agenda, seeking out TANF funds for grandparent caregivers, and pushing for in-service training of TANF workers. The steering committee meets quarterly with subcommittees meeting more regularly.
While the main KinCare program is the operation of 29 support groups, the support groups are used to distribute a variety of information about available services and supports to grandparents raising grandchildren. For example, several groups have brought in KCHIP officials to describe how grandparents can access this program. Other programs have brought in child welfare, legal services, and other community programs. While all programs follow the same general model, they do vary considerably as the local resource centers have flexibility to design the programs to meet local needs. Some programs have developed internal leadership with the grandparents really running the program. That is really the hope for all programs. Each program is encouraged, but not required, to use a state-created form to assess the needs of the grandparents. Some programs have been more focused on educational activities. Others have brought in service providers for information and referral only, while some offer services at their centers. A number of programs have started offering services to children beyond respite care, however with a maximum limit of $90,000 which pays for two staff members, the focus of the family centers has always been information and referral, not service delivery.
The KinCare Program is funded entirely through the state's family resource centers (maximum grant is $90,000, the minimum $10,000, based on $200 per child receiving free meals) now that the $10,000 Brookdale grant has ended. Most resource centers seek out additional funds and many have been successful in adding to their programs.
Bill Montgomery
Coordinator
State Office of Aging Services
Kentucky KinCare Project
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY 40621
502/564-6930
San Francisco, California
The Kinship Support Network (KSN) is a comprehensive program designed to fill in the gaps in public social services to relative caregivers and the children in their care. KSN was established in 1994 and is the basic program model for Kinship Support Services Programs currently being implemented in 14 counties around the state.
The Kinship Support Network seeks to provide culturally sensitive services that strengthen and support kinship families.
KSN is a voluntary program that serves any kinship care family that resides in San Francisco County. Of those who are referred to KSN by other agencies, about half are referred by either the child welfare or TANF divisions of the Department of Human Services. Referrals are made on a case-by-case basis and there are no pre-established referral criteria.
KSN operates under the auspices of the Edgewood Center for Children and Families. KSN has about 40 staff, including 11 "community workers" who provide intensive, individualized case management to kinship caregivers. KSN sponsors several support groups located throughout San Francisco. A separate program component provides services to the caregivers' children. The program has had an on-site medical component (i.e., nurse, psychiatrist) in the past and has plans to do so again in the future. Two child welfare workers are outstationed at the KSN program site. In addition, KSN has established many formal and informal collaborative arrangements with a variety of public and private agencies (e.g., school district, legal services) so that kinship care families participating in KSN have access to many services that are not provided on-site.
The Kinship Support Network provides families a wide array of family support services, including intensive, individualized case management to those needing extra help and attention. For those receiving case management services, community workers conduct a family needs assessment and develop an individualized case plan. Community workers meet with families at least once per month, including routinely conducting visits to the homes of caregivers. Nine "Grandparents Who Care" support groups are held throughout the city, including bilingual groups for Latinos and Koreans. These groups are facilitated by trained professionals or caregivers who have received training. KSN also has a separate service component for the children of kin caregivers which includes age-specific programs for at-risk teens, children between ages 8-12, and younger children between ages 3-5. Services for children and adolescents include tutoring three days a week, life skills instruction, recreational and cultural enrichment activities. Other services offered by KSN include respite for caregivers, advocacy, access to legal services; other resources include an on-site library, computer lab, clothes closet and food bank. In the past, the program has employed a part-time nurse and mental health practitioner who provided services on-site and, pending funding, is planning to have on-site health personnel in the future.
The Kinship Support Network's annual budget is approximately $2.5 million. The Department of Social Services, using Family Preservation, IV-E, and county funds is the largest source of funding. The program also receives internal support from the Edgewood Center as well as state Kinship Support Services Program funds, grants from the County Children's Fund, the United Way, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, TANF funds a grant from the Office of Criminal Justice that provides funding to work with probation officers to identify kinship families.
Ken Epstein
Director, Edgewood Center for Children and Families
1 Rhode Island Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/682-3197
kene@edgewoodcenter.org
Although there is no clearly defined alternative kinship program in Oklahoma, the Aging Services Division within the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has spearheaded several ongoing initiatives that involve services to relative caregivers.
The Aging Services Division has sponsored an annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren conference since 1997. The conference is consistently well-received and provides grandparents and other kin caregivers with information on a wide range of legal, educational, and family relationship issues. Representatives from various state agencies and programs provide information about the child welfare system, guardianship and other permanency options, and other sources of support such as the Food Stamp Program, Medicaid, and child support. Information about the conference event is distributed by the Aging Services Division through a variety of organizations such as the Department's child welfare agency, the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, schools, daycare centers, and the Area Agencies on Aging.
Following the first conference in 1997, the state legislature mandated that the Department of Human Services create a handbook for grandparents raising grandchildren. Aging Services and the Division of Children and Family Services collaborated to publish Starting Points for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (Summer 1998), which provides information and key phone numbers regarding issues such as Child Development, Health and Safety Needs; Child Care, Schools and Education Needs; Obtaining Documents and General Assistance; Custody and Legal Issues; Coping Strategies; and Resources for Grandparent Caregivers.
In 1999, the Division of Aging Services received a grant from The Brookdale Foundation to establish support groups for kinship caregivers. The grant is part of the Brookdale Foundation's Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) which provides seed grants of $10,000 over a two-year period to local and state agencies to expand services for kinship caregivers and their families. The Division of Aging Services subsequently awarded grants (ranging from $826 to $1000) to four subgrantees in different parts of the state to establish the kinship support groups on an ongoing basis and was planning to fund four additional organizations for the same purpose. Aging Services has also encouraged local groups to apply for additional funding directly from the Brookdale Foundation.
A RAPP Grant inter-system task force was developed early in the program's first year of funding and includes representatives from the State Department of Health, State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, DHS, Oklahoma State University, Area Agency on Aging, Chikasaw Nation, Institute of Child Advocacy, and the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The RAPP task force meets primarily to discuss the progress of the support group grantees. The task force also serves the purpose of opening dialogue between many agencies which in some capacity serve grandparent caregivers.
The Oklahoma Respite Resource Network is housed within the Oklahoma Areawide Services Information System (OASIS), a statewide information and referral network. Various agencies, including Family Support, Aging Services and Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health, have contributed funding from their budgets to support respite care costs. Thus far Aging Services has expended about $20,000 on respite care to families in which a grandparent has the primary caregiving role and is at least 60 years old. The family must have a household income of no more than $45,000, or if the child has a developmental disability the income level may be up to $60,000. Families may receive up to $400 per quarter in vouchers to purchase respite services. The caregiver may choose the respite provider, as long as the person is at least 18 years old and does not live in the household. Eligibility is determined and approved upon completion of a simple one-page application.
Judy Leitner
Program Director, Relatives as Parents
Department of Human Services
Aging Services Division
312 NE 38th Street, Suite 101
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405/522-4510
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Last updated: 10/29/01