This sidebar accompanies the article, "Staying with Grandma," which originally appeared in the July-August 1997 Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children

Policies to Fit Families

By Cassi Feldman

Earlier this year, a group of California grandmother-caregivers sat down with service providers and policy experts to review the results of a major survey of kinship care in California. The survey, conducted by Joni Pitcl of the Children's Research Institute of California (CRIC) and published by the California Partnership for Children, covered issues of placement, information for caregivers, court proceedings, financial assistance, follow-up, support services, and legal permanence. The study includes responses from 36 county welfare directors, 23 public and private foster-care service providers, and 116 relative caregivers, together representing nearly two-thirds of California's counties.

Their answers show a lack of "consistent policies and practices" for kinship care on the part of California child-welfare agencies, CRIC concludes. "Resources and services" for these families are "sparse," and "of the few available resources, almost none are tailored to support the unique needs of kinship care."

In response to the study's findings, the task force came up with a series of recommendations, to be included in a legislative package now being introduced in the California legislature. (All bills mentioned are pending at press time.) Some of the major recommendations include:

• Develop comprehensive statewide placement standards and regulations for kinship care. One simple reform (AB 1065, Goldsmith) is to give county social-service agencies access to the Child Abuse Central Index, to help assess placements. Another current bill (AB 1196, Shelley) calls for clear standards for removing a child from kinship care. Other bills to create kinship-care assessment standards will be introduced in the future.
• Develop separate service programs designed specifically for relative caregivers. AB 1193 (Shelley) would help by establishing pilot comprehensive kinship care programs in four counties. The task force also called for better outreach and education for relative caregivers to connect them with available services.
• Develop an equitable system of reimbursement for relative caregivers. One bill (AB 1322, Wright) would allow relative caregivers to become legal guardians but also receive subsidies. And SB 163 (Solis) would exempt relative caregivers over 50 from welfare-reform work requirements.
• Create a system of "kinship adoption." Kinship adoption, which would be created by AB 1544, would give a relative caregiver parental authority without the constant possibility of legal challenges (by the parent, for example) for a limited period, such as two or three years. Subsidies would be available to help support the child.

For more information, call:
Lillian Johnson, Program Director, Kinship Care Network, Edgewood Family Center, 415/865-3000.
Dr. Lenora Poe, Facilitator, Grandparents as Parents, 510/845-7189.