Kinship Caregiver Support Act

Bill: 110-s-661
Sponsor: Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY]
Introduced: 2007-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Families
Subjects: AIDS (Disease)
Adoption
Agriculture and Food
Aid to dependent children
Caregivers
Cash welfare block grants
Child health
Child support
Child welfare
Church and social problems
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal justice information
Custody of children
Day care
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug abuse treatment
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Electronic government information
Elementary and secondary education
Family services
Family violence
Federal aid to child health services
Food stamps
Foster home care
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Grandparents
Grants-in-aid
Guardian and ward
Health
Health insurance
Higher education
Housing and Community Development
Housing subsidies
Human immunodeficiency viruses
Identification of criminals
Indian children
Information services
Interstate compacts
Labor and Employment
Legal aid
Legal fees
Legal services
Medicaid
Medically uninsured
Mental health services
Metropolitan areas
Minorities
Native Americans
Nonprofit organizations
Old age, survivors and disability insurance
Ombudsman
Parent and child
Parents
Poor children
Prisoners
Public-private partnerships
Religion
Respite care
Science, Technology, Communications
Secondary education
Siblings
Social Welfare
Special education
Standards
Students
Supplemental security income program
Telephone
Urban affairs
Vocational and technical education
Web sites
Welfare eligibility

Summary:
action_date: 2007-02-16
text: 
Kinship Caregiver Support Act - Authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants for kinship navigator programs to state agencies, metropolitan agencies, or tribal organizations with experience in addressing needs of kinship caregivers or children and connecting them with services and assistance.

Amends part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize all states to opt to enter agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of children to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have cared as foster parents and have committed to care for on a permanent basis. Allows states to use part E funds to make such payments under specified conditions. 
 
Provides that adoptive parents of children with special needs remain eligible for adoption assistance, even if they receive kinship guardianship assistance.
 
Authorizes the use of foster care independence program funds to provide independent living services and education and training vouchers for children who exit foster care to kinship guardianship or adoption after age 16.
 
Authorizes kinship guardianship demonstration projects.

Requires states to: (1) notify all adult grandparents and other adult relatives (with exceptions due to family or domestic violence) when a child is removed from custody of a parent or parents; and (2) explain the options the relative has to participate in the child's care and placement.

Allows state agencies to establish separate standards for foster family homes in which a foster parent is a relative of the foster child.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-02-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2171-2172)
action_date: 2007-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate