State Fact Sheet
Across the
country, more than six million children -- approximately 1
in 12 children -- are living in households headed by grandparents
or other relatives. Arkansas has more than 62,000 children
living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives.
In many of these households, grandparents and other relatives
are the primary caregivers (“kinship caregivers”) for children
whose parents cannot or will not care for them due to substance
abuse, illness and death, abuse and neglect, economic hardship,
incarceration, divorce, domestic violence, and other family
and community crises.
In response
to the growing numbers of these kinship care families, state
legislatures, public and private agencies, and grassroots
coalitions in Arkansas and across the country have begun to
expand services and supports for children living with kin
inside and outside of the foster care system.
A Look
at the Numbers: Kinship Care in Arkansas
The data below
show the numbers of grandparents who are living in households
with at least one grandchild under the age of 18, as well
as the numbers of grandparents who are the primary caregivers
for these grandchildren. These numbers were reported by the
2000 U.S. Census and are available for every place (as defined
by the U.S. Census Bureau) in the country, including cities,
towns, villages, and boroughs, on the U.S. Census website.*
| |
Grandparents
Living in Households with One or More Own Grandchildren
Under 18 |
Grandparents
Responsible for Meeting the Basic Needs of Grandchildren |
| Location |
# |
# |
| United
States |
5,771,671 |
2,426,730 |
| Arkansas |
57,895 |
33,618 |
| Little
Rock city |
3,733 |
2,271 |
| Fort
Smith city |
1,493 |
760 |
| North
Little Rock city |
1,385 |
853 |
*These
data are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics: 2000.
Kinship Care Initiatives in
Arkansas
In Arkansas, public and private
agencies and grassroots coalitions of grandparents and other
relative caregivers have begun working together to expand the
services available to kinship caregivers who are caring for
children outside of the foster care system.
Several of
the major kinship care programs and supports are listed below.
Additional support groups can be found through the AARP Grandparent
Information Center Database. Call 1-800-424-3410, e-mail information
requests to gic@aarp.org, or search AARP’s online kinship
care support group database at http://www.aarp.org/grandparents/searchsupport/
Services
and Supports for Kinship Care Families
Alternative
Caregiver’s Support Group is a pilot project for kinship
care families in Pulaski County. The project provides weekly
support groups for caregivers raising children inside and
outside of the child welfare system, parenting education classes
tailored for kinship families, respite activities for children,
legal education and services for income-eligible families,
case management, and public advocacy (i.e., preparing kinship
caregivers to testify in legislative hearings). The
program also involves kinship care families in legislative
initiatives, provides public education about needs of kinship
families, tutoring for children during support group meetings,
access to children and family mental health services through
Centers for Youth and Families, and a free resource handbook
for kinship caregivers throughout the state. The program serves
roughly 45-50 caregivers in Central Arkansas (around Little
Rock) and provides referrals to other groups across the state.
Contact: Dee Ann Newell, at (501) 660-6886, ext. 3121 or lujo@aristotle.net.
Kinship
Care Families and Incarceration: The Centers for Youth
and Families runs Family Matters, a program that works with
incarcerated mothers, their children, and the current caregivers
of those children to prevent intergenerational incarceration
through interventions with these high-risk families. The services
provided include crisis intervention, information about public
benefits programs, Medicaid and foster care, individual and
family counseling, intensive case management services for
families, therapeutic groups for children, support groups
and parenting education for caregivers, and free dinner, transportation,
and child care at group sessions. Family Matters also engages
in public education, research, and advocacy on behalf of kinship
care families. Contact: Dee Ann Newell, at (501) 660-6886,
x. 3121 or lujo@aristotle.net.
Parenting
Education for Kinship Caregivers: The Center for Effective
Parenting hosts a grandparent support group in the Springdale
area that meets twice per month. The group is facilitated
and led by grandparents and also brings in expert speakers,
such as lawyers and educators. The group also provides parenting
education resources for kinship care families. Contact:
Suzann Hernandez, at (501) 751-6166 or shernand@jtlshop.jonesnet.org.
Resources,
Support, and Referrals: The GrandParenting...Again! Support
Group meets monthly for fellowship and informational updates
and serves kinship caregivers in the White County area. This
group helps grandparents navigate the school system, including
accessing special education services, refers them to inexpensive
county health care services, shares successes with legal service
providers, keeps them apprised of current events surrounding
this issue, and provides pamphlets and a lending library of
books on this subject. Contact: Barbara Luke, Parent Involvement
Coordinator for the Beebe Public Schools, The Family Center,
at (501) 882-8420 or lukeb@thor.k12.ar.us.
Kinship
Care and Arkansas’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In Arkansas, the
Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family
Services reports:
Number of
children in kinship foster placements: As of June 2001, there
were a total of 2,500 children in the Department’s care in
out-of-home placements. Of these children, 218 (8.7%)
were placed with kin.
Preference
for kinship placements: Arkansas policy requires that when
an out-of-home placement is necessary, the preference of the
Department is to place the child with relatives. All
children must be placed in a licensed or approved foster home.
Licensing
for kinship foster parents: There is no separate licensing
program for kinship foster parents. Kin have to meet
the same licensing standards and training requirements and
receive the same foster care payment rate as non-kin foster
parents. However, the state will waive or modify the
space requirements for kinship foster parents on a case-by-case
basis.
Subsidized
Guardianship: In addition to foster care payments and other
benefits available to kin raising children in the foster care
system, some states also have subsidized guardianship programs.
Most of these programs offer ongoing subsidies to children
who have left foster care to live permanently under the legal
custody or guardianship of relatives. Arkansas currently does
not have a subsidized guardianship program.
State foster
care contact: Questions about kinship foster care placements
should be directed to Ed Wallace, Foster Care Services, Arkansas’s
Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family
Services, at (501) 682-1569 or ed.wallace@mail.state.ar.us.
Other Supports
for Arkansas Kinship Care Families
Children raised
by kinship caregivers are often eligible for a range of state
and federal programs. In most cases, kinship caregivers
may apply for these programs on a child’s behalf even though
they are not the child’s parents or legal guardians.
Some examples of these programs include:
Cash assistance:
Cash assistance may be available to children and their grandparents
and other relative caregivers through the Transitional Employment
Assistance (TEA) program. Kinship care families may
also be eligible for food stamps to help meet their children’s
food and nutrition needs. For more information about
these programs, contact (501) 682-8250 or log on to http://www.state.ar.us/dhs/dco.
Health insurance:
Grandparents and other relative caregivers may apply for free
or low-cost health insurance on behalf of the children they
are raising through Arkansas’ ARKids First Program.
In some cases, caregivers may also be eligible for free coverage
under the state’s Medicaid program. For more information
about how to apply for ARKids First program, call 1-888-474-8275
or log on to http://www.arkidsfirst.com/home.htm.
State Laws
and Policies
Sometimes
kinship caregivers find it difficult to obtain services their
children need, such as medical care or education. In addition
to the state’s child guardianship and custody laws, the following
law may be helpful to kinship caregivers1:
Standby
Guardianship (ARK Code§ 28-65-221): This law
states that any parent chronically ill or near death may nominate
a standby guardian to be legally responsible for his or her
child. Once the standby guardianship is, while living,
share concurrent legal authority.
Questions
about this fact sheet or recommendations for additions to
future versions should be submitted to Roseana Bess, The Urban
Institute, at rbess@ui.urban.org.
1 Laws change and are subject to different interpretations.
These general descriptions are not intended as legal advice
in any particular situation.
