noah baby

STEERING COMMITEE WISH LIST

Originally published February 20, 2012

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So I learned about this KinCare Steering Committee a couple of weeks ago and, since then, I find myself interjecting my hopes and dreams for kinship and foster care into conversations with friends and family who do not care about these things at the same level that I do.  Over a couple beers and the most verbose and eloquent language possible, I’ve been weaving a wish list for this committee.  My ideas fall flat and on unimpressed ears.  It’s not that these people do not care at all, they just do not have the same affinity or intimacy with a foster care situation like I do.  I should have been recording these ideas here, on my blog, all this time instead of letting them get lost in furious conversation over all the issues that ail our society.  So here I go.

In my fantasy world making a call or writing a letter to this committee would result in the following changes:

- Kinship care benefits needs to be increased to match the per diem rate for regular foster parents and should be excluded from income considerations for WIC, state medical coverage, and child care assistance.  This seems like such a simple concept to me and I’m at a complete loss as to why the two caregiver groups receive such different financial assistance.  In Kentucky kinship care provides a $300 monthly stipend.  Foster parents receive between $600-$900 monthly depending on the needs of the child.  If an increase in assistance would require relative caregivers to undergo training and continuing education, I think that most would be totally game.

- As long as a case is open and being investigated by DCBS, kinship caregivers need to provided with their own case worker so they do have to rely on only the investigating social worker to advocate for them.  Foster parents are provided their own representatives but not relative caregivers.  Noah’s social worker was overburdened with a heavy case load and, most of the time, was unable to answer some of my questions regarding what public programs were available, differences in custody declarations, and the like.  There should be a single point of contact for kinship caregivers to reach out to who can provide assistance with these issues.

- Open adoption on foster care cases needs to be expanded to include siblings already placed by DCBS.  It currently only covers birth parents.  It is completely obscene to me that birth parents can voluntarily (or involuntarily) terminate parental rights and that siblings placed with relative caregivers or other foster parents cannot petition for continued visitation on their own accord.  If a TPR takes place on a child who has siblings placed elsewhere, special consideration should be given to place the child eligible for adoption in a family that has committed to a legal open adoption and would allow the siblings to continue a relationship.  This should be a legal, not an informal, process.

- A voluntary database needs to be established that would contain relative caregiver contact information so that coordinators working on various initiatives across the state can keep individuals on their mailing lists.  Currently there are over 60 support groups in our state established for relative caregivers but I have never received any information about them.  There are other programs like TANF and grant programs offered through Kentucky’s Agency on Aging that I only discovered through my own research.  While I don’t qualify for those programs, there are other relative caregivers out there who I’m certain do qualify that are completely unaware that the programs exist.  There are so many resources currently available but there is a major disconnect between where those resources originate and how they are disseminated.

- Certificate/letter program. I’d love to see every documented relative caregiver in my state get an annual letter or certificate from the Governor that simply says, “Hey, you’re doing a great job and we appreciate you.”  Canned letter or not, I’d put that sucker on my fridge.  I think it’s an easy, cost efficient way to reach out to relative caregivers to let them know that they are supported.

Any relative caregivers out there who can add to this list or recommend revisions?