Across
the country, more than six million children -- approximately
1 in 12 children -- are living in households headed by grandparents
or other relatives. The District of Columbia has
more than 113,000 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.
A Look
at the Numbers: Kinship Care in Iowa
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 |
| Iowa |
28,201 |
13,073 |
| Des
Moines city |
3,318 |
1,484 |
| Cedar
Rapids city |
1,113 |
509 |
| Davenport
city |
1,669 |
805 |
*These
data are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics: 2000. The U.S. Census website
is
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet.
Detailed instructions on how to access this data can be found
at http://www.casey.org/cnc/quick_facts/kinship_care_state_data.htm.
Kinship Care Initiatives
in Iowa
In Iowa, 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/.
Network
of State Support Groups and Statewide Task Force: The
Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Adult,
Children and Family Services has established a network of
support groups serving the state’s three regions – central,
eastern, and western Iowa -- to provide support, information,
and referrals to kinship care families. In addition, DHS has
partnered with the Iowa Task Force on Relatives as Parents
Statewide Initiative to provide additional advocacy, guidance,
and information for relative caregivers across the state.
Most recently, the Task Force has developed a brochure and
resource guide for kinship caregivers. Contact: Barry Bennett,
Iowa Department of Human Services, Division of Adult, Children
and Family Services, at (515) 281-3974 or bbennett@dhs.state.ia.us.
Support,
Information, and Recreation for Kinship Care Families:
The Muscatine Community Y provides a comprehensive Grandparents
Raising Grandchildren Program, which offers a monthly support
group for grandparents and other relatives raising children.
The program also offers individual and group counseling, educational
seminars, group recreational activities, legal and medical
guidance, and recreational services to relative caregivers.
All of the organization’s services are free of charge, open
to the public, and include free child care and transportation
to all meetings. This program is part of the Brookdale Relatives
as Parents Program (RAPP) network. Contact: Diana Broderson,
Program Director, at (563) 263-9996 or dbroderson@muscatiney.org.
Individual
and Family Counseling: Parents United of North Central
Iowa is a treatment program for families who have experienced
child sexual abuse, and includes a counseling group specifically
for relative-headed families caring for child victims of sexual
abuse. The caregiver group meets concurrently with the children’s
therapeutic group. Group therapy is led by therapists
specifically trained to work with sexual abuse issues and
often includes a peer facilitator. Groups meet weekly.
Individual therapy is scheduled as needed and may include
dyad, couples, or family therapy. They also offer referrals
to caregivers in need of legal services or other types of
assistance.
Contact: Carolyn Price, Executive
Director, at (641) 424-5232 or cprice@wctatel.net.
Extension
Service Reaches Out to Kinship Care Families: Iowa State
University Cooperative Extension, Scott County Extension offers
group and individual support to grandparents and other relatives
raising children. It has monthly group meetings at the local
YMCA. There is a different topic addressed every month, such
as legal issues, coping skills, etc. While primarily a Scott
County program, the group serves the Quad-Cities area (Bettendorf,
Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island) as well. Monthly calls
are made to all group participants. The group also organizes
a large outdoor social event for kinship care families every
summer. Contact: Jennifer Best, Extension Educator, Iowa State
University Cooperative Extension, Scott County Extension,
at (563) 359-7577 or at Jbest@iastate.edu.
Support,
Counseling, Information, and Referral: Family Services, Relatives
As Parents Program is a kinship program in Cedar Rapids
that offers support groups for grandparents and other relatives
raising children as well as an educational curriculum covering
topics such as financial and legal options for kinship care
families. Individual and family counseling is also available
for adult relative caregivers and the children in their care.
Contact: Jenna Gardner, Elder Care Specialist, Family Services,
at (319) 398-3574 or jgardner@familyservicesiowa.org.
Kinship
Care and Iowa’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In Iowa, the Department
of Human Services, Division of Adult, Children and Family
Services reports:
Number
of children in kinship foster placements: As of February
2, 2002, the Iowa Department of Human Services had a total
of 4,832 children in out-of-home placements. The number of
children in out-of-home placements that are placed with kin
are not available through the Department.
Preference
for kinship placements: State policy requires that adult
relatives be given preference over non-related caregivers
when an out-of-home placement is required for a child.
Licensing
for kinship foster parents: There is no separate licensing
program for kinship foster parents. Kin have to meet
the same licensing standards and receive the same foster care
payment rate as non-kin foster parents. The relative must
meet all relevant state child protection standards, including
a criminal background check, and must be related to the child
through blood or marriage.
Subsidized
Guardianship: In addition to foster care payments and
other benefits available to kin raising children in the foster
care system, some states 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. Iowa currently does
not have a subsidized guardianship program.
State foster
care contact: Questions about kinship foster placements
should be directed to Charlcie Carey, Foster Care and Adoptive
Program Manager, Iowa Department of Human Services, Division
of Adult, Children, and Family Services, at (515) 281-5358
or ccarey@dhs.state.ia.us.
Other Supports
for Iowa 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 Iowa’s
Family Investment Program (FIP). Kinship care families may
also be eligible for the food stamps to help meet their children’s
food and nutrition needs. For more information about
these programs, call (515) 281-3163 or log on to http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/economicassistance/economicassistance.asp.
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 Medicaid or HAWK-I.
In some cases, caregivers may also be eligible for free coverage
under Medicaid. For more information about how to apply
for these programs, call 1-800-257-8563 or log on to http://www.hawk-i.org.
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
laws may be helpful to kinship caregivers1:
Standby
Guardianship (Iowa Code § 633.560): This law allows
a parent, under certain circumstances, to designate in writing
a standby guardian to take over the day-to-day care of a child
in the event of a parent’s death, incapacity, or inability
to function in a parental role, without limiting the rights
of other living parents.
Open Educational
Enrollment (Iowa Code § 282.18): This law allows
a caregiver to enroll his child in a public school in a district
where the parent or guardian does not reside under certain
circumstances.
