Kinship Care Legislative Policy Network News
March, 2007
1. Kinship Care Legislation 2006: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington
2. 2007 Session Bills - Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Washington
3. Preventive Subsidized Guardianship Report, Cornerstone Consulting Group
4. All in the Family, NCSL State Legislatures Magazine
5. SAVE THE DATE! Kinship Care Pre-Conference Meeting at NCSL Annual Meeting
Once again, we would like to welcome you to the NCSL Kinship Care Legislative Policy Network-your source for the latest news and information on kinship care policy across the states. As a member of the Network you will receive these newsletters as well as invitations to upcoming meetings related to state kinship caregiver policy.
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington enacted kinship care related legislation in the 2006 session. Arizona appropriated $1 million for the Grandparent Kinship Care Program which will include a one-time transitional assistance grant. California established the "Kin-GAP Plus Program," to increase payments to relatives who become guardians to former foster children with special needs and to serve youth exiting the probation system into relative care. To assist caregivers with information and services, Connecticut established a "Kinship Navigator Program" and Kentucky created a "KinCare Support Program." Illinois created the "Higher Education Student Assistance Act" to provide college tuition assistance to eligible students. Kansas established a "Grandparents as Caregivers Program." To view details and all summaries for 2006, please click here.
(Contact Nina at nina.mbengue@ncsl.org to see these bills)
Illinois House Bill 551 and Senate Bill 466 require the department to develop and administer a program of information and services for caregivers, particularly older caregivers, of children previously in department custody, with respect to the future care and custody of those children. Indiana's House Bill 1406 would establish kinship care navigator pilot projects. Mississippi House Bill 885 would allow the department to provide relative caregivers with monthly assistance payments, which may be up to 100% of the amount of foster care board payments, to defray the expense of room and board. Pennsylvania House Bill 302 describes rights of children in substitute care to include relative placement preference; contact with family and siblings; treatment with dignity and respect; freedom from discrimination, harassment and abuse; ability to live in least-restrictive, most family-like setting; and, access to medical, mental health, dental, vision and addiction services.
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio and the District of Columbia have all recently implemented "preventive" subsidized guardianship programs. These programs aim to: prevent children from entering the foster care system, provide support to kinship caregivers, reduce the number of children of color entering foster care and achieve permanency for older youth by maintaining family connections. Caregivers receive a modest monthly subsidy (funded through a combination of federal TANF and/or state funds) and must meet certain eligibility criteria. Some states offer medical, child care and other assistance. The report includes an appendix comparing sources of funding, caregiver eligibility requirements, subsidy amounts, program assessments, and the number of participants in each state. There is also a discussion of issues, challenges and implementation strategies. To read click here: Preventive Subsidized Guardianship Report.
NCSL's State Legislatures Magazine December 2006 issue highlights kinship care programs and legislative strategies in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. Click here to see the full article in HTML.  Download PDF Version (To view PDF files, you must install Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
SAVE THE DATE! Annual Meeting Pre-Conference on Kinship Care
NCSL's Children and Families Program will be hosting a Pre-Conference Seminar on Kinship Care at annual meeting in Boston. If you are interested, please email nina.mbengue@ncsl.org - we will alert you when a date has been confirmed!
STATE PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
Please let us know if you would like your state’s kinship care initiatives highlighted here or if you would like more info on a particular state or program email Kyle.ramirez@ncsl.org or nina.mbengue@ncsl.org .
If you would like to unsubscribe from this network or refer someone else to the network, please contact Kyle Ramirez-Fry at 303/856-1507 or kyle.ramirez@ncsl.org. If you have comments or questions about the network, please contact Nina Williams-Mbengue at 303/856-1559 or nina.mbengue@ncsl.org. Again, we look forward to communicating with you on this issue.
 Foster Care, Kinship Care
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