There is a fairly new movement in foster care toward providing more support to relative caregivers of children, such as grandparents, and making “subsidized guardianship” an option for children who are not able to reunify with family or are not eligible for adoption. Elliott G. Smith at the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect at Cornell University, compiled some data on the numbers of children being raised by grandparents nationally.

Generations United (GU) is the national membership organization focused solely on improving the lives of children, youth, and older people through intergenerational strategies, programs, and public policies. GU represents more than 100 national, state, and local organizations and individuals working on behalf of more than 70 million Americans.

Generations United has launched a project to raise awareness about the need for federal guardianship assistance for older Americans that are caring for children in out of home placements (mainly their own grandchildren). The project is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and in December 2005, the Trusts awarded Generations United a second grant to help children move more quickly through the foster care system to safe appropriate homes.

"Despite the proven success of subsidized guardianships and the fact that guardianship is recognized as a permanency option in federal law, the federal government does not provide reimbursements for all states to have these programs." source...

The most recent data show that about one-third of children in the foster care system are being cared for by relatives. What needs to happen is exactly what the Pew Commission and other organizations are working toward. Every state needs to offer a subsidized guardianship program. Without a common goal, we’ll set the relatives up for failure.

The Pew Commission made recommendations in May 2004 for needed changes in the foster care system, so that children would not languish in the system. These recommendations can be found at their website. For more information on the Pew Charitable Trusts, please visit their site.

A recent article in today’s local paper discussed a new law here in Arizona where grandparents or other relatives will have first say in caring for a child. Only after they cannot find a relative to care for the child will the child be placed in foster care. It also spells out the specific findings that the judge must make in determining if the relative placement is not in the best interests of the child.