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 Idaho
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
|
Idaho
|
17,447
|
8,110
|
Boise
City city
|
1,898
|
717
|
Nampa
city
|
788
|
359
|
Pocatello
city
|
511
|
233
|
*These data
are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics: 2000.
Kinship
Care Initiatives in Idaho
In Idaho,
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/.
Additional
state and national kinship care resources and supports
are available on the Generations United website at http://www.gu.org,
and GrandsPlace at http://www.grandsplace.org and
Grandparent Again at http://www.grandparentagain.com,
two websites coordinated by grandparents raising grandchildren.
Statewide
Coalition for Kinship Care Families: The Idaho Kincare
Coalition is a group of individuals and organizations, public
and private, with connections statewide. The mission of the
organization is to promote legislative and social change through
advocacy and education and to provide the social supports
needed by grandparents and other relatives raising the children
in their care. Members include the facilitating organization,
the Idaho Commission on Aging, AARP, Idaho Department of Health
and Welfare, University of Idaho Extension Services, Idaho
State Bar Association, Head Start, as well as other child
advocacy organizations like the Family Advocate Program, relatives
as parents support groups, Area Agencies on Aging and others.
The Coalition’s website of emerging support groups or those
groups underway is at http://www.idahoaging.com. Contact:
Pam Catt-Oliason, Idaho Commission on Aging, at (208) 334-3833
or pcattoli@icoa.state.id.us.
Involving
Seniors in Kinship Care Outreach: The AARP’s Idaho State
Office is currently working with the Idaho Commission on Aging
and several other organizations to establish support groups
across the state for grandparents and other kin raising the
children of relatives. Contact: Cheryl Tussey, Associate State
Director, at (208) 855-4004 or ctussey@aarp.org.
Sharing
Kinship Care Resources: The University of Idaho Cooperative
Extension sponsors several programs to educate kinship care
families about the benefits and services available to them.
The Cooperative Extension incorporates grandparents raising
grandchildren into many of its educational programs, including
parenting and nutrition education programs. It has also
sponsored two national videoconferences on Grandparents as
Parents. Contact: Harriet Shaklee, Margaret Ritchie
School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Idaho
Cooperative Extension, at (208) 364-4016 or hshaklee@uidaho.edu.
Including
Grandparents in Parenting Education: ICARE is a non-profit
child abuse-prevention agency for at-risk families that serves
Kootenai County. ICARE partners with parents and kinship care
providers to build better families through in-home visitation
and a support group. ICARE also offers parenting classes.
Contact: Morgan Richardson, ICARE, at (208) 676-1515 or ICAREPROG@aol.com.
Support
in Eastern Idaho: The Area VI Agency on Aging in Eastern
Idaho provides a monthly support group for grandparents raising
grandchildren. The support group allows caregivers to share
concerns about legal, medical, behavior and school issues.
It will also look at coping skills as grandparent participants
revisit parenting issues, whether caring for a toddler or
a teen. Guest speakers are offered depending on the caregivers’
needs. Contacts: Emily Hoyt, I&A Director, at (208)
522-5391, ext.1030 or Lisa Farris, I&A Assistant, at (208)
522-5391, ext.1014 or hoyte@eicap.org.
Advocacy
and Legislative Support: Grandparents as Parents (GAP)
is a support and advocacy group for grandparents raising their
grandchildren in the Southwest Idaho area. The support
group meets each month and also sponsors four functions each
year for children to meet other children raised by someone
other than their parents. In addition to providing emotional
support, the group educates grandparents about and advocates
for proposed legislation on behalf of kinship care families.
Meetings are held at Cherry Lane Christian Church, 2511 Cherry
Lane, Meridian, Idaho, 83642. Contacts: Georgia Mackley, Chair,
at (208) 938-3206 or GAP_Boise@go.com. GAP’s
website is http://gap_boise.tripod.com/GAP/.
Kinship
Care and Idaho’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In Idaho, the
Department of Health and Welfare, Bureau of Children and Family
Services reports:
Number
of children in kinship foster placements: As of May 2002,
1,289 children were in out-of-home placements under the Department’s
supervision. Of these children, 135 children (10%) were placed
with kin. The Department of Health and Welfare rules include
non-relatives with a significant “family-like relationship”
with the child as kin. Idaho defines “relative care”
as a person related to the child who is providing alternate
care. These relative care placements are currently not
distinguished from other foster family home placements, but
will be shortly.
Preference
for kinship placements: State policy requires that placement
priority be given to relatives or immediate family, next to
extended family, and then to non-family members with a significant
established relationship with a child when an out-of-home
placement is sought for a child under the Department’s care.
Licensing
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.
Guardianship
Assistance: In addition to foster care payments and other
benefits available to kin raising children in foster care,
some states also have subsidized guardianship programs. Idaho’s
Department of Health and Welfare provides Guardianship Assistance
benefits to certain children. In order to be eligible
for these benefits, the child must be under the guardianship
of the Department and the child’s parents must have their
parental rights terminated. The Department must have also
documented its efforts to place the child for adoption.
Guardianship Assistance pays for the one-time costs necessary
to finalize the guardianship, Medicaid benefits, and a negotiated
monthly cash payment that cannot exceed the amount the child
was receiving while in an Idaho foster family. Relatives
who are caring for their relative children who meet the above
specifications can talk to their child’s social worker about
this program (Idaho Code Ann. § 56-802 et seq.). Contact:
Meri Brennan, Adoption Program Specialist, Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare, at (208) 334-5700 or brennanm@idhw.state.id.us.
State foster
care contact: Questions about kinship foster placements
should be directed to Mickey Harmer, Foster Care Program Specialist,
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare at (208) 334-5695 or
harmerm2@idhw.state.id.us.
Support
services for kinship foster parents: Casey Family Programs
is a non-profit organization with an office in Boise serving
children and youth in out-of-home care. Currently, Casey
has a “Participation Agreement” with the Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare to provide foster care, guardianship,
and adoption services to children and youth involved in the
state child welfare system. Additionally, the agency provides
advocacy and guidance to promote enhanced services to children,
youth, and families impacted by racism, poverty, substance
abuse, and mental health issues. Contact: Mike Scholl, Casey
Family Programs, at (208) 377-1771 or mscholl@casey.org.
Other
Supports for Idaho 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 Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) in Idaho. 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, call 1-800-926-2588 (TDD: 1-208-332-7205)
or (208) 334-5784 or log on to http://www2.state.id.us/dhw/.
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 Idaho’s Children’s
Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In some cases, caregivers
may also be eligible for free coverage under Medicaid.
For more information about how to apply for these programs,
call 1-800-926-2588 (TDD: 1-208-332-7205) or log on to http://www.idahohealth.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:
Medical
Consent (Idaho Code Ann. § 39-4303): This law allows
a parent, spouse, or legal guardian to give consent for hospital,
medical, dental or surgical care, treatment or procedures
for a child, incompetent person, or other persons unable to
consent to such treatment. If there is no parent, spouse,
or legal guardian available, the next living relative may
consent to any of these procedures on the child’s behalf.
Standby
Guardianship (Idaho Code Ann. § 39-15-5-202): This
law allows parents to provide in their will for a guardian
to care for their child upon both parents’ death or determination
of the parents’ incapacity. The guardian must accept
this appointment with the court where the will is probated
for the guardianship to be effective or file acceptance prior
to the death of the parent. A child 14 or over may contest
the appointment process.
