Statement of Support for the Kinship Caregiver Support Act

Kids Are Waiting
April 02, 2008

The Kids Are Waiting campaign strongly endorses the bipartisan, bicameral Kinship Caregiver Support Act (S. 661/H.R. 2188) that provides federal support to relatives who create permanent families through legal guardianship to help children leave foster care.  It would also help relative caregivers of children in foster care to find other services and supports to help them in their caregiving duties.   The Invest In Kids Act (H.R. 5466), a comprehensive child welfare reform proposal, also includes similar provisions that would provide federal assistance to legal guardians and help relative caregivers access services and supports.

Foster care was created as a short-term safety net for children in crisis, however, on average children will languish for more than two years. More than half the children leaving foster care will return home to their birth parents, and about 18 percent will leave foster care to adoptive families. For some, however, reunification with their parents or adoption is not an option.
For these children, a supported legal guardianship with a relative or another caring adult can be a way out of foster care to a safe, permanent family. Guardianship gives legal rights to a child’s caregiver so that he or she can take responsibility for a child's safekeeping and make decisions about education and health needs. When it is necessary to remove a child from his or her family because of abuse or neglect, research shows foster placements with relatives are good for children. They are less likely to change schools and more likely to be placed with their other siblings. A 2007 report by the United States Government Accountability Office recommended that federal guardianship support could help reduce overrepresentation of African-American children within the foster care system.

More than 500,000 children will close their eyes tonight as wards of the state in foster care. They are waiting for the security, stability and love of permanent families. Nearly 15,000 of these children are living with relatives in long-term foster care. How much longer must they wait to leave foster care -- for good?

A summary of the bill can be found here.