|
 This
proposed rule aligns with President Biden’s priorities on providing
necessary resources to keep families together and support kinship
care.
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues to prioritize keeping
families safely together, including removing barriers for child
welfare agencies to license grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other
relatives and kin who step up to foster children during challenging
times,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “As this new proposed
regulation gives states and tribes the ability to adopt separate
licensing standards for relatives and other kin, we encourage
agencies to place as few burdens as possible on kin, consistent with
the safety and well-being of the child.”
Currently, all foster family homes must meet the same licensing
standards, regardless of whether the foster family home is a kin or
non-kin placement. This updated regulation allows a child welfare
agency to adopt different licensing standards for all kin foster
family homes to lessen delays in the kinship foster family licensing
process. Kin can include individuals related to a child by blood,
marriage, or adoption and other individuals who have an emotionally
significant relationship with the child, such as godparents, and
close family friends.
ACF’s Children’s Bureau encourages child welfare
agencies to strongly consider developing standards for kin foster
family homes that meet only the federal requirements and not
additional standards the state, local, or tribal agency may require
non-relative foster family homes to meet. These standards may
include extending the age limits for kinship foster care providers
to allow for older kin to foster a child or allowing kin children to
share sleeping spaces. [to top of second
column]
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“Across the United States,
millions of children live with kin caregivers–aunts, uncles,
grandparents, and other loved ones who stand in when parents are
unable to safely care for their children. We know that children
do better when they’re with their families,” said ACF Assistant
Secretary January Contreras. “Placing children with kin allows
them to maintain a sense of place and belonging and to maintain
their cultural identity and connection to their own community.
By allowing child welfare agencies to approve different
licensing standards that recognize the needs and benefits of kin
caregivers, more family members would be eligible to be licensed
and receive financial resources to support the child’s
well-being.” Encouraging
and helping family and kin caregivers become licensed foster
caregivers is beneficial to both the child and the foster care
relatives. Research shows that children living with family
experience higher stability and fewer behavioral problems compared
to children living with non-relatives in foster care, in addition to
maintaining familial and cultural bonds. ACF believes that child
welfare agencies can develop different foster family home licensing
or approval standards for kin in a manner that does not compromise
child safety and well-being. This regulation also does not change
the requirements concerning criminal background checks or other
important safety provisions.
ACF continues to emphasize prevention and kinship services provided
in the community. Providing necessary support and resources to
families has a proven track record for keeping families together.
ACF encourages child welfare agencies to pursue options that keep
families together and maintain family connections, including kinship
care. In keeping with its overall mission, ACF is committed to
seeking equitable outcomes for the children, youth, and families it
serves.
[U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services] |
