Kinship Care

Question: kinship care? I’m about to have my nephew stay with me for three years (he’ll be 18). I kinda know what to expect and how to get resources. We’re in Alameda County in California. What suggestions do you have for me and maybe resources in my area? Sorry for the confusion, he’ll be 18 in three years.

Answer: Via Foster Care there are several programs and will help until 18 or even 21 if he's in school. There's Kinship,Yokum and if you are thinking of adopting there is AAP (adoption assistance program) I also found Family to Family in your county. And a youth program. GOOD LUCK

Question: Can a kinship care giver consume alcohol in the presence of the children? My nephews were taken by cps and place with ex-family. We were invited to the two year old's birthday party. When we arrived, we we offered beer. We declined but he continued to drink along with some of his other family members. Is this allowed?

Answer: Of course. Why would you think it wasn't? Outside of the Taliban and a few other extremists, drinking beer at a birthday party is the norm. If the adults got drunk to the point where they could not properly care for the minors it could be charged as child endangerment. Richard

Question: When a child is taken by CPS & put in kinship care, can the care giver consume alcohol with the kids present? My nephews were taken by CPS and placed with the other grandmother. She is my ex sister-n-law. She invited us to the oldest child's birthday party. He is two. When we arrived, her husband offered us beer. We declined but he drank the whole time along with some other family members. Is this allowed?

Answer: Just because a parent or guardian drinks socially in front of their children does not make them bad parents or guardians. I'm sure your parents drank in front of you children, and that's because there is nothing wrong with it. UNLESS, they are alcoholics or people that only use drinking as an excuse to get out of control and behave in a manor that is endangering the children.

Question: How much foster/kinship care money is given in Solano County Ca. for a 10 year old boy? I know that ? sounds bad, but I have agreed to take in my grandsons, Uncle, and we have already spent over $500 on credit cards to prepare for him (painting, furniture, renting storage, travel, needed county documents..). Things are really tight already, because I am raising my grandson with no support. I am just hoping it will be enough to cover his expenses.

Answer: HI! WE ARE going through the program now for a 12 year old little girl here in Fairfield, Ca. The amount given in Solano county for 9-11 year old boys is 519 a month. Plus 298 Simi annual for clothing. Plus if any medical issues you would get an extra supplement any where from 123- 371 a month. Hope this helps. Have you done your applications, fingerprints,and other requirements yet??? Good Luck!

Question: I am in kinship/foster care with my nephew and we are in the adoption stage? My nephew is 15 months old and we are having a hearing later this month to terminate my brother and sister in laws rights (she is a drug addict and he is crazy). I have 3 children of my own 11,9 and 7 years old and she is pregnant again. I really want a girl but I go crazy with the 4 children I have now.not to mention the expense of raising 4 children Should I consider this unborn child or am I crazy?

Answer: This is a question no one else can answer for you. Great for you that you are taking your nephew! I have experienced this with a great niece, I have no regrets because I know her life is so much better than it would have been. Wanting a girl should not be your basis for considering taking the child she is now pregnant with. Also remember that your 3 children will have an adjustment to these family addition(s) and two very young children take require lots of time. My best regards to you whatever you decide!

Question: kinship or foster care compensation in Pa? Im going to be taking in my sisters baby and need to know if I qualify for something called kinship care or foster care payments. She and her Boyfriend are on drugs and the baby is in FL state care. I am the only one willing to take the baby in because he was born addicted to methodone. Also what complications could the baby have in the future? Iv posted some other questions on here and have gotten some really informative responses so Im asking another question:) bear with me, I cant seem to find the info on the internet:)

Answer: It's wonderful you are willing to take in your sisters baby. I'm not sure how kin ship/foster care works across state lines, or if you will be able to get care payments. However, I'm including a few web pages I have found in regard to infants born with a drug addition. The second link is to web page about meth addition in infants and what long term effects the child may face. Good Luck.

Question: Kinship care changing into adoption? Long story short, my sister-in-law n her husband were accused of child abuse.(which they are innocent of) The baby had a medical condition that was undiagnosed until after it was too late to submit it into evidence. The child have been staying with her first cousin and her husband, in what they call kinship care. They were supposed to have a hearing in regards to their parental rights on Monday, the courts canceled it. Today they received letters stating that their parental rights were being taken away and the kids are being put up for adoption. My question is can the courts legally do this? Take their parental rights without a hearing? Please any insight would really be helpful. Additional Details: We live in Ohio. The kids were taken away in June of '08 and have been with the cousins since August of '08.

Answer: Yes they can sadly, but your sister in law can fight it. They need to get a good lawyer and ask for a second trail. It wouldn't hurt to find a doctor who could give details about the childs condition to prove it wasn't child abuse.

Question: Kinship Care in VA? Also, is it going to be neccessary? I live in VA (United States) and need to know about the local kinship rules and regulations, and just generally how it works and what to expect. If it becomes neccessary, it would be a 13 year old girl living with her 54 year old biological aunt. I also need to know if they would remove a 13 year old from her father's care if social services is already involved in a potentially abusive situation (mostly concerning her mother) and truancy, and the father gets charged with DUI/failure to submit to a breathalyzer (he finally did it 12 hours later and blew a .05)and child endangerment based on her being in the car at the time of arrest.

Answer: You'd need to call your local social services, tell them you think there's a case involving (child's name & parent's). Let's also be clear here. There are two separate cases of abuse. Abuse isn't mostly one parent. Neglect and letting the other parent hit a child is just as bad, both in the eyes of the law, and the children's eyes. This father and mother apparently have both screwed up badly. Next, even if you aren't required to go to the parenting courses, I'd strongly recommend it, because they have a lot of pointers in how to handle kids in these situations, and many things that make understanding them so much easier. This young lady has been through a lot. Typically, a 13 year old girl is headstrong, and coming into her own personality at this age, in completely normal situations. Combine that with abuse, drinking, and catching up with school work, and with puberty, and without some quick intervention, she's a bomb waiting to go off. It will take time, love, tenderness, and lots of patience, but you actually have the ability to save her life at this point. Even if you feel that taking her in is beyond your capability, or if you don't get custody, at least having a family member who is loving and involved can be a big help. Also, you might get approved to be a foster parent, and even if you don't take her in, you could still have overnight visitation, and any respite care she might need, such as if foster parents go out of state for a funeral. Even if she isn't taken into foster care, please read up on some of the things kids in drinking families go through, and she might truly benefit from Ala-teen group counseling and support, so she can realize that this isn't her fault, and that there's nothing she can do, but her parents will have to get help for themselves. Good luck!

Question: Question about kinship care.? CPS just stepped in and took my sister's two children from her. My husband and I stepped in and agreed to take them in, under kinship care. At first, it seemed like we would get help in doing this, particularly when it came to childcare. We both work, and our two children's babysitter can't babysit my niece and nephew because she's not licensed. But, now it seems like they expect us to pay for everything. They're getting on Medicaid and WIC, but I'm worried we won't be able to afford everything else. I don't want them to go into foster care. I need to know what all they are responsible for when it comes to expenses, and if we should expect and recieve more help than we are getting. I live in Indiana if that's important.

Answer: It's different by state. Kentucky offers about $300/month OR child care help. Not enough to cover all expenses. One thing you could ask your social worker about is getting licensed as a foster home.. you'd have to take the training, but then you could get the same compensation as foster parents. Try telling the worker that you can't afford it and may have to "give them back".. I bet they'll come up with some ohter aid. Also, your existing babysitter should be able to get qualified pretty easily, all they have to do is a background check and home visit, as long as she doesn't have a criminal background or child abuse/neglect accusation. Check out the link below, it may have some useful info.

Question: When is kinship care a bad idea? And when is adoption a better idea for a child? If a child is born into an abusive home life, is it possible that kinship care is not a healthy choice or necessarily the best choice for a child? See the article below. http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/… I look forward to everyone's thoughts. Thank You! I don't mean to imply that kinship care is a bad idea. I support children staying connected with their bio families WHENEVER POSSIBLE. This article just made me think about the issue of domestic violence and/or abuse in families --- something I hadn't thought about in the context of kinship care before.

Answer: I'm an adoption and foster care social worker and I dance this line all of the time. Let me first say that what happened in this article, the death of a child at the hands of a foster parent has happened 3 times in my state in the last five years....none of them were related to the child. So the kinship care argument has nothing to do with the problem of unstable violent people getting children. But there is a problem with the belief that kinship care is always blanket best. I will say this before I am attacked. In the cases where a SUITABLE family member can be found who has the ability and the desire to care for the child AND protect them from further trauma AND EXPOSURE TO THE BIRTH PARENTS....I say do it...Most of my adoptions this year have been grandparent or aunt/uncle adoptions. However, there have been cases where I have been forced by the courts to place a child with a grandparent who raised crack head, abusive parent...along with incarcerated uncles, and aunts that can't hold down jobs......after a while it is not a good tree with many bad apples, it is a BAD tree...and they should not be given the next generation to screw up. Also, birth family does not always protect the children from further contact....when they adopt they are saying "my child, (niece, nephew...whatever) is not welcome in my home for holidays, birthdays, whatever until this child reaches 18." easy to say when you're angry and fed up.....BUT when the birth parents get clean for a booming 3 months and you start thinking "Oh..they've changed...this is good..." because you love that person...you open the door again...BOOM relaspes...kid is hurt and rejected ALL over again. No in cases of mental illness, or simple neglect, the court will often not issue a no-contact order. When there is no threat to the child by continued contact, I think it should be allowed and it is...I know adoptive parents who ignore them all the time and in these cases...where there has been no abuse, and the presence of the birth parent is not harmful...I pretend I don't notice. No case is exactly the same. DHS often does not run a deep check and do a good report on people who are relatives......3 times this year alone I have started adoption processes on people who NEVER should have had the children in the first place......We are talking FELONIES...recent (within 5 years) sometimes violent felonies...in one case...Grandpa was still in prison at the time of the assessment...so here is the deal..do I pull a child from his grandmother and the home he has been in for 3 years (since birth) of course not....but DHS NEVER should have allowed the child into the home of a repeated felon...they didn't check...he was a relative and this was an emergency placement....trouble is these placements often become forever and I don't think a child should be placed overnight in a home we wouldn't consider for adoption....DHS does this all time with relatives. So, kinship care is a bad idea when the relatives are not suitable, when they don't meet the same criteria we'd ask of a foster parent, when they have criminal records (recent and serious), when they will not be able to protect the child from further trauma, when they knew there was a problem but never once came forward on behalf of the child....... But, if they are safe and suitable, it is the best thing!

Question: Have 2 'kinship care' sons..first time they call me daddy? I'll explain the situation a bit.. I have kinship care of my friends two young sons. 5 and 3. Their parent's (my friends) sadly passed away at the start of the year. With my fiancee we are raising them as a family unit..and we have full parental rights. Thing is the oldest one 5yo has been calling my fiancee mummy for about a month know. Today he said to her 'is daddy at work'. He didn't directly say it to my face but we presume he meant me as he understand his dad is with the stars, and I was working. I feel guilty to my friends that their children are calling me daddy. Should I tell the children not to call us this? I don't really want to make an issue of it because other children at school will speak about their parents and I don't want to take this away from the boys. What would you do?

Answer: I've thought hard about this as i have a similar experience! well i feel that the word daddy is special to children and makes them feel more secure,as long as they know along the way that their birth parents loved them and wanted two special people to love them and look after them then they should call you what they wish,when they are older and ask more questions tell them the truth also make a special book of memories and photos for them to look at when they feel the need. plenty of children thrive when they lose parents because people like you love them and give them security i don't think that their real parents looking down on them will begrudge them happiness,carry on and be good parents after all that's what you are now after all...ps good luck.

Question: what is kinship allowance when taking care of a family member not allowed to go home? we are taking care of our grandson who was in the care of social work they were going to put him up for adoption as far as i am aware we are classed as relative carers which is the same as a foster carer but we dont get paid but a very reliable source told us about kinship allowance and that we should have been recieving said allowance so if anybody out there can help we would be very grateful

Answer: look here http://www.frg.org.uk/Publications/Finan…

Question: My granddaughters are in separated in foster care in ID. I live in MT. How do I petition for kinship care? PLS DFS won't communicate with me regarding my granddaughters even though I have a signed confidentiality release from their mother. I have petitioned the judge to assist me in getting information.Have not heard anything from him. The sister live in separate home and are miserable. New restrictions have been imposed on me so now I have no visitation, no phone calls or emails and can only send letters which are read by the case manager and if deemed appropriate(?) passed on the my granddaughters (ages 10 & 6). Can I obtain kinship care without hiring an attorney? How do I go about doing this? I have contacted MT state agencies only to be told I have to go thru ID and ID won't respond. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated!

Answer: Every state is a member of the Interstate Compact (ICPC). In order for the girls to be placed with you an ICPC would have to be initiated by ID. A lot of times social workers have high case loads and are only able to meet minumum standards of care for kiddos. Kids might be miserable, but they have their basic needs met. I don't know if ID is a grandparent's rights state, but I would check. If you find that ID is, then you have a right to be party to all court hearings regarding your grandchildren. If it's not they you can ask the court to allow you access to hearings. Your best bet is to hire an attorney in ID, who is knowledgable regarding Child in Need of Care matters. It may be called something different, but it'll be similar. I would contact the court, and request a list of Guardian Ad Litems that the judge in that division uses. I would then hire one of those attorneys to represent your intersts in the matter. Have the attorney request an ICPC. If the court orders it, then the social worker will be forced to do it. ICPC's can take up to 6 months to complete, but at least you'll be making progress. I wish you the best of luck.

Question: Will I still get a monthly stipend when I adopt my kinship children in Pennsylvania? I kinship care, (foster children that are related to me), and I will be adopting them in the next few years. I currently get a monthly stipend and I am just wondering whether that will stop when I do adopt them. Anyone know the law or can direct me to an appropriate website? I am in Pennsylvania. Thanks a lot!

Answer: Yes, and make sure you read EVERY word on all papers you are asked to sign off on. Know what you are signing. It should stay the same with no changes. Make sure before adopting that you get special assessments done on each child so that if you need extra help in the future you have documentation to back up your requests and needs. The medical card should also continue.

Question: Kinship Care for grandchildren? does anyone know how and where i apply gor knship are for my grandchildren? i will have temporary, permanet costody for about a year and knos nothng abot this. thank you.

Answer: Call your closest legal aid office or check with the county clerks office. I'm not sure they can help but it's possible someone in one of those offices can tell you who you need to contact. Don't worry. Someone out there can help you.

Question: kinship foster care and out of state visits, we live about 40 min from GA? we live in fl but want to get seasonal passes for a theme park in Ga and we would be making alot of visitng possibly ever other week, the city that is placing my niece and newphews in our care is 3 hrs away do we have to obtain court permission everytime we leave the state, it would be about once a week, thanks we will be adopting just wondering what to do til that happens

Answer: Talk to the agency that is placing the children with you. Where I live it would require permission from the agency and in some cases, the mother, It varies from place to place.

Question: I'm looking for some famous people raised by their grandparents --- a good speaker on kinship care? I heard that the New York State Child Abuse Prevention Conference is having a day on kinship care --- I don't have any contacts there, and I've left them a message for a good speaker.

Answer: One of my graduate classes this semester is kinship care. I've learned so much in this class and have becoming a better social worker for having taken this class. Good luck with finding a speaker!

Question: Kinship care in Ohio? My brother is a total jerk and is abusing his sons. I knew that he yelled at them but just found out that he also use a belt to beat on them. It kills me to think about it. I am calling children services tomorrow. The boys are 12 and 9. I would hate to see them go in to foster care, but I know anything is better than whats happening now. I know that the rest of my siblings cant take the boys for one reason or another. I would take them but not sure if i will be allowed to. My husband is an illegal resident of the US, would that make it so I cant care for the boys? Their mom will not leave their dad and she also hits on them. I am really upset about this. I have 2 children of my own and dont understand how someone can beat on their child.

Answer: Before they will put them into foster care, they will look for a family member or friend of the family who is willing and able to care for them. If you feel that you could handle this task, you may very well be able to get guardianship rights of his children.

Question: Kinship care versus adoption. What is the best outcome for children who can't live with their parents? In Social Work children (siblings) sometimes have to be permanently removed from the care of their parents for one reason or another. When this happens should they be placed with relatives or placed for adoption. Which one gives the child the best long term chance of success. Also, when doing this, if a relative comes forward offering to care for one child and not the other should you separate the children and place one with a relative while the other one is placed for adoption. Or, should both children be placed for adoption which means at least one of them misses out on the opportunity for life within the family. Is the sibling bond stronger than the need to have a long term relationship with their extended family

Answer: The research is pretty clear and the advocacy groups are also clear that kinship care is much better for youth. The research is also pretty clear that siblings should be kept together - now sometimes these are competing - which is why techniques like family group conferencing (or its variations are also very important in the process). There is no singe "right" answer - each case is unique and must be looked at in terms of all the factors. DA

Question: Can I take kinship care of my nephew from Michigan? I live in Tennessee. Help with Michigan State Kinship Laws? The state of Michigan just took custody of my nephew in Michigan. I would be willing to take custody of him, be his foster parent, temporary or permanant placement. He has been placed in foster care as there is no other viable family anywhere. If so, who can I contact to get this started? I'm frustrated no one even contacted me before he was placed in custody! I am fully willing and able to take him. Well I'm not sure "proud" why you are being rude, but in Tennessee when they remove a child from a home they try to place him with relatives by asking the family "hey, do you have any relatives we can try to contact". Obviously he is in the custody of the state, so I can't just pick up the phone and say, "Hey, whole state of michigan, can you send my nephew over" I am looking for someone who can actually help, not criticize me for some unknown reason.

Answer: I suggest you contact your own states DFCS office and ask what you can do. You will most likely have to be certified by their office as a Foster parent, meaning a home inspection will have to be done, and this can take months. Then prove that you are related and they should release him to your custody.