Adequate Subsidy and Benefit Levels

Many states have existing guardianship programs for children exiting foster care. Reviews of states with subsidized guardianship reveal that the most successful programs are those with benefits at a level that is equal to what a child received in foster care, as well as to what they would have received had they been adopted. In its Title IV-E waiver demonstration, for instance, the State of Maryland found that caregivers who were receiving foster care subsidies could not afford to care for children in guardianship at a rate that was almost half of what they received in foster care. [i] In Illinois, by contrast, children are able to receive the same rate that they received in foster care, making the option of guardianship more attractive than foster care for children living in safe and stable foster homes.

California ’s Assembly Bill 1808 creates more equity in its Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (Kin-GAP) by providing enhanced benefits for children leaving foster care to guardianship. The legislation allows relative caregivers who received Special Care Increments (SCI) payments while caring for a child in foster care to receive those same benefits in Kin-GAP. It also provides a $100 annual clothing allowance and Back-to-School Clothing Allowance that is available to foster children. The legislation also extends Kin-GAP benefits to probation youth in foster care, which had not been allowable under previous law. [ii]

California ’s Assembly Bill 2876 also made improvements to authorizing legislation by requiring the following:

· That the agency could retain some cash savings for the program for child welfare purposes.

· That the children in Kin-GAP are eligible for independent living services. [iii]