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 Mississippi
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 |
| Mississippi |
84,157 |
48,061 |
| Jackson
city |
6,259 |
3,700 |
| Gulfport
city |
1,925 |
1,159 |
| Biloxi
city |
983 |
561 |
*These data
are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics: 2000.
Kinship
Care Initiatives in Mississippi
In Mississippi,
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.
Support,
Referrals, and Education: The Petal Association for Families
sponsors a Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) that provides
a monthly support group for relatives raising children in
Petal, Mississippi. The meetings last an hour and a half and
include complimentary supper and child care. The first half-hour
is for informal talk and sharing time, and the second hour
is for group sharing and problem solving. Information is made
available to participants by guest speakers on a variety of
issues, including legal custody, health care, self-care, and
education. Groups are run by a licensed social worker who
is also a grandparent caregiver. Contact: Dr. Sylvia
Forester, Executive Director, at (601) 582-0909 or brightpaff@aol.com.
Kinship
Care and Mississippi’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In Mississippi,
the Department of Human Services, Children and Family Services
reports:
Number
of children in kinship foster placements: As of February
28, 2002, there were 3,556 children in out-of-home placements
under the Department’s supervision. Of these children,
1,742 (49%) were placed with kin.
Preference
for kinship placements: State policy requires that kin
be considered first when an out-of-home placement is sought
for a child under the Department’s care.
Licensing
for kinship foster parents: There is no separate licensing
program for kinship foster parents. Kin have to meet
the same licensing standards and requirements and receive
the same foster care payment rate as non-kin foster parents.
A waiver for kinship foster parents can be requested for licensing
requirements that do not affect the child’s safety (e.g. income,
age, physical space). Waivers are subject to approval by the
State Licensing Authority.
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. Mississippi currently
does not have a subsidized guardianship program.
State foster
care contact: Questions about kinship foster care placements
should be directed to Gail Young, Director of Placement, Children
and Family Services, at (601) 359-4995 or gyoung@mdhs.state.ms.us.
Other Supports
for Mississippi 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
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). 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 (601) 359-4800 or log on to http://www.mdhs.state.ms.us/ea.html..
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 and Mississippi’s
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In some
cases, caregivers may also be eligible for free health coverage
under Medicaid. For more information about Mississippi
Health Benefits (Medicaid and CHIP), relative caregivers should
call 1-877-KIDS-NOW or contact Maria Morris (601-359-6050),
exmdm@medicaid.state.ms.us or Brian Tharp (1-877-982-2990)
or log on to http://www.mschip.com..
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:
Medical
consent (Miss Code Ann § 41-41-3): This law allows
any person standing in loco parentis or any guardian, conservator
or custodian to consent to medical treatment on behalf of
a child. Authorized medical care includes any surgical or
medical treatment or procedures not prohibited by law that
may be directed by the child’s physician.
