SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP

Relatives might be hesitant to adopt for several reasons: they do not want to sever ties with the biological parent family member; they are hopeful that the biological parent will seek treatment and eventually return home; or they are opposed to terminating parental rights from a cultural or religious standpoint¹. Also, older children might not want to be adopted but still agree that living away from their parents is in their best interest. Nevertheless, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 emphasizes permanency for every child and mandates that an agency file for termination of parental rights if a child lives in foster care for fifteen months out of a twenty-two month period. While ASFA recognizes legal guardianship as a permanency option, it provides no specific and ongoing federal financial assistance to families that choose it as one². In one grandmother's words: "It's like no one even stops to think what kinship caregivers are doing with almost nothing. We're doing 10 dollars' worth of work for a quarter."³

In part as a response, thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have established subsidized guardianship programs to encourage grandparents and other relatives to step in and provide permanent homes for children when their parents are unable to do so. The goal of such programs is to provide financial support and services for relative caregivers that want to make a permanent commitment to caregiving without having to permanently alter family relationships by adopting. All programs vary, but in general the subsidy available is somewhere between the amount of a TANF child-only grant and a foster care payment.⁴