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Report

Strengthening Families Through Guardianship


Quick Summary

More than 500,000 children will close their eyes tonight as wards of the state in foster care. They are waiting for the security, stability and love of permanent families. Foster care was created as a short-term safety net for children in crisis, however, on average children will languish in care for more than two years. More than half the children leaving foster care will return home to their birth parents, and about 18 percent will leave foster care to adoptive families. For some, however, reunification with their parents or adoption is not an option.

Strengthening Families Through Guardianship
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Report Project

Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care

Report Topic

Health Topics

Guardianships Make Sense for Government

In addition to being good for children and families, evidence suggests that supported guardianships can save state, tribal and federal money by closing the case and ending the ongoing casework and supervision that is required when children remain in foster care.7 Once established, legal guardianships also require less judicial oversight and time, which can contribute to lower costs for courts.8

States and tribes have recognized the need to support relative and guardian caregivers as an alternative to long-term foster care when reunification or adoption is not possible. Forty states and the District of Columbia have some form of guardianship program. Thirty-two states pay for the program with state-only funds;9 other states have federal Title IV-E waivers;10 and others use the state-match portion of federal funds available through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or the Social Services Block Grant.11

Guardianship programs vary widely in eligibility and amount of assistance provided. Typically, state-funded programs offer lower monthly rates to caregivers than the foster care stipend. When states fund their programs with state and local dollars, the resources are highly vulnerable to budgetary shortfalls.

Table of Contents
 

Date added:
Apr 10, 2008
Project:
Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care
Topic:
Health Topics
References:
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References:

1 Testa, M., Bruhn, C. & Helton. J. Comparative safety, stability, and continuity of children’s placements in formal and informal substitute care. A paper presented at the NSCAW Data Users’ Workshop, January 25-26, 2007. Washington, DC;
2 Ibid.; Analysis by the University of Illinois, Children and Family Research Center at Urbana-Champagne (2007), reported in Kids Are Waiting. (2007). Time for Reform: Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from http://kidsarewaiting.org/tools/reports/files/0004.pdf
3 Rolock, N. & Testa, M. (2006). Conditions of children in or at risk of foster care in Illinois. Urbana, IL, Children and Family Research Center.; Wulczyn, F. & Zimmerman, E. 2005. Sibling placements in longitudinal perspective. Children and Youth Service Review, Vol.27, pp. 741-763.
4 US Government Accountability Office. (2007). African American Children in Foster Care: Additional HHS assistance needed to help states reduce the proportion in care. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07816.pdf
5 Macomber, J.E., Geen, R. Main, R. (2003). Kinship Foster Care. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from: http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=3108936
6 Children’s Defense Fund. (2004). Financial Assistance for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/financialassistance0805.pdf?docID=467
7 Kids Are Waiting. (2007). Time for Reform: Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from http://kidsarewaiting.org/tools/reports/files/0004.pdf
8 National Abandoned Infants Resource Center. (2005). Subsidized guardianship. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from http://aia.berkeley.edu/publications/fact_sheets/subsidized_guardianship_2005.php
9 The American Bar Association, Casey Family Programs, and Generations United. (2008). Subsidized Guardianship Programs. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from: www.grandfamilies.org and http://www.grandfamilies.org/index.cfm?page=aboutus; US Children’s Bureau. (May 2007). Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Demonstration Waivers. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs_fund/cwwaiver/2007/summary_demo2007.htm
10 US Children’s Bureau. (May 2007) Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Demonstration Waivers
11 The American Bar Association, Casey Family Programs, and Generations United. (2008). Subsidized Guardianship Programs. US Children’s Bureau. (May 2007) Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Demonstration Waivers.; Generations United. (2005). Grandfamilies: Subsidized Guardianship Programs. Retrieved March 30, 2008 from: http://www.gu.org/documents/A0/GUGeneralFactSheetJune.pdf
12 US Children’s Bureau. (May 2007). Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Demonstration Waivers.
13 US Children’s Bureau. (May 2007). Profiles of Child Welfare Demonstration Projects. Retrieved April 1, 2208 from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs_fund/cwwaiver/2007/profiles_demo2007.htm

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