Subsidized Guardianship: A National Perspective Jennifer Miller, Cornerstone Consulting Teleconference for the National Resource Center for Family- Centered Practice and Permanency Planning January 25, 2005

Growing Momentum for Subsidized Guardianship Recognition of Subsidized Guardianship in ASFA Increasing Use of Kinship Care Funding through waivers and TANF flexibility Pew Commission Recommendations Federal Legislation Positive Evaluation Findings

Improving Outcomes for Children through Subsidized Guardianship Reducing the use of long term foster care for children who can not return home or be adopted Achieving permanency for older youth Responding to the unique needs of kinship caregivers and their children

Improving Outcomes (continued) Reducing the overrepresentation of minority youth Providing choices and opportunities for families to raise children without government intervention Providing opportunities for states to improve permanency outcomes and address CFSR and PIP goals

Key Facts About Subsidized Guardianship 35 States and DC have some form of subsidized guardianship Subsidy levels vary considerably (TANF rate, foster care rate or somewhere in between) States use a variety of funding sources – TANF (12), waivers (7), state $$ (17), SSBG(1) Eligibility requirements for caregivers and children differ

Best Practices Related to Subsidized Guardianship Fully integrated and valued in the permanency continuum Benefits that are consistent with adoption assistance – subsidy, legal fees, post permanency supports, subsidized guardianship agreement Rule out return home and adoption Educate caseworkers, attorneys and courts

Best Practices (continued) Ensure that families are fully involved in decision making Provide comparisons of permanency options and implications of each – financial, legal, and emotional Specify visitation issues and requirements

Federal Legislation The Kinship Caregiver Support Act (Clinton/Snowe) The Child Protective Services Improvement Act (Cardin) Act to Leave No Child Behind

Helpful Publications Mary Bissell and Jennifer Miller, eds., Using Subsidized Guardianship to Improve Outcomes for Children: Key Questions to Consider, (Washington, DC: Cornerstone Consulting and Childrens Defense Fund, 2004). Childrens Defense Fund, States Subsidized Guardianship Laws at a Glance, (Washington, D.C.: Childrens Defense Fund, 2004). Cornerstone Consulting and Childrens Defense Fund, Expanding Permanency Options for Children: A Guide to Subsidized Guardianship Programs, (Washington, D.C.: Cornerstone Consulting and Childrens Defense Fund, 2003). or Cornerstone Consulting, Guardianship: Another Place Called Home (Houston, TX: Cornerstone Consulting Group, 2001) Mark Testa, Nancy Salyers, Michael Shaver and Jennifer Miller, Family Ties: Supporting Permanence for Children in Safe and Stable Foster Care with Relatives and Other Caregivers. (Champaign-Urbana, IL: Fostering Results, 2004). Mark Testa, When Children Cannot Return Home: Adoption and Guardianship, in The Future of Children, Volume 14, No. 1 (Los Altos, CA: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Winter 2004)

Questions or Comments Jennifer Miller, Cornerstone Consulting National Collaboration to Promote Permanency through Subsidized Guardianship (401)