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 New Hampshire
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 |
| New
Hampshire |
14,660 |
4,534 |
| Manchester
city |
1,320 |
436 |
| Nashua
city |
1,186 |
418 |
| Concord
city |
347 |
143 |
*These data
are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics: 2000.
Kinship
Care Initiatives in New Hampshire
In New Hampshire
, 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.
Local Support
for Kinship Caregivers: Families First of the Greater
Seacoast offers family support for kinship caregivers in the
Portsmouth area through parenting classes, support groups,
and family outings. The support groups host professional
speakers from the community to address the needs and concerns
of kinship caregivers and give kinship caregivers the opportunity
to share their experiences with others in the same situation.
It meets twice monthly and provides child care, transportation,
and a light supper during the support group meetings.
Contact: Pam Maddingly, RAPP Coordinator, at (603) 422
–8231 or pmaddingly@communitycampus.org or http://www.familiesfirstseacoast.org.
Services
for Grandparents and Other Relative Caregivers: Even Start,
sponsored by The Brookdale Foundation’s Relatives as Parent
Program (RAPP), provides a number of services for kinship
caregivers, mainly in Dover and Somersworth counties.
Programs offered include support groups, social gatherings
for kinship caregivers and their children. It also offers
a reference book for kinship care families with information
about local and federal programs and services. Even
Start also has a legislative focus, recently testifying before
the state legislature about housing problems facing caregivers.
Contact: Nancy Kershaw, Even Start Program Coordinator, at
(603) 749-9755.
Education
and Support Groups: Healthy Universal Beginnings (HUB)
Family Support Center, also sponsored by The Brookdale Foundation’s
Relatives as Parent Program (RAPP), provides a diverse range
of services for relative caregivers in Strafford County, including
a weekly Caregiver-to-Caregiver Support Group for kinship
care families. The program also offers guest speakers
to discuss legal, financial, social, and personal issues particular
to caregivers, including personal adjustment to change, how
to work with schools, and the basics of child and adolescent
development. HUB also provides referrals for any services
caregivers may need. Contact: Julie Person, Site Manager,
at (603) 749-9754.
Information
and Referrals for Kinship Care Families: Family Matters
in Carroll County is a family resource center that provides
advocacy, support, referrals, and information pertinent to
families, including kinship caregivers. It offers a
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group that meets
once a month in Ossipee. The organization also offers
ongoing workshops on child and family issues for parents and
caregivers and weekly caregiver/child playgroups in Center
Ossipee and Moultonborough. Family Matters is also the
Child Care Resource and Referral agency for Carroll County,
providing information and referrals for child care, and technical
assistance and training to child care providers and programs.
Contact: Lynne Dennis, Family Resource/ Empowerment Coordinator,
at (603) 539-8223,1(800) 820-8138 or fmicc@ncia.net.
Parenting
Education for Kinship Caregivers: The University of New
Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension offers parenting education
to kinship caregivers and others throughout the state through
newsletters on infant and toddler care and development, workshops
on child development and parenting issues, parenting fact
sheets and publications, a website at http://www.ceinfo.unh.edu,
and volunteers who provide parenting education. Videos
of the national Extension network’s satellite conferences
on the needs of grandparents raising grandchildren are available
through UNH Cooperative Extension offices in each of the state’s
10 counties. Contact: Charlene Baxter, Program Leader,
Family Development and Communities, UNH Cooperative Extension,
at (603) 862-2485 or charlene.baxter@unh.edu.
Health
Information for Relative Caregivers: New Hampshire Family
Voices is a Family- to-Family Health Information Center which
supports families with special needs, emotional, physical,
and chronic illnesses, and disabilities. The organization
has a database of more than 3,000 resources on specific issues
such as ADHD, Autism, etc. It also has a lending library
and information and support system specializing in information
about raising children with chronic illnesses, disabilities
and social issues, such as diversity and grandparenting a
child with special needs. Family Voices publishes a
quarterly newsletter of information and resources called “Pass
It On.” It also assists families in understanding systems
such as Medicaid, private insurance policies, SSI, and public
and private financial assistance programs. Family Voices has
a referral service offering information to kinship care families
on local supports and services. Contact: Martha-Jean
Madison, Co-Director, at (603) 271-4525 or 1-(800) 852-3345
x4525 (in state) or nhfv@yahoo.com. The organization’s
website is http://www.nhfv.org.
Referrals and Information:
AARP’s New Hampshire Office offers statewide information and
referrals for grandparents and other seniors raising children.
Contact: Donald Davidson, State Director, at (603) 629-9559.
Improving
Parenting Skills: The Riverbend Community Mental Health’s
Parent-Child Centers give infants and toddlers a high quality
pre-school experience while their parents and caregivers learn
and share effective parenting skills in Concord, Hillsborough,
Franklin, Penacook and Pittsfield. The Centers offer
a parenting course for grandparents and other relatives raising
children. Kinship caregivers are also invited to join
in parenting groups. Contact: Donna Ray Craft, Director,
at (603) 228-1551 or inquiries@riverbendcmhc.org.
Lending
Library and Clearinghouse: The Family Resource Connection
is a special service of the New Hampshire state library that
provides information and materials for families, including
kinship care families, on all aspects of raising children.
It is a lending library, resource and referral center, and
clearinghouse that mails materials to callers with postage-paid
envelopes for their return. Among its collection are
books and videos specifically for kinship care families.
Contact: Alice Nye, Coordinator, at (603) 271-7931 or nyea@library.state.nh.us.
Kinship
Care and New Hampshire’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In New Hampshire,
the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division
for Children, Youth and Families reports:
Number
of children in kinship foster placements: As of January
2002, 1,651 children were in out-of-home placements under
DHHS’s supervision. Of these children, 160 children (10%)
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 DHHS’s care.
Licensing
for kinship foster parents: Kin do not have to be licensed
in New Hampshire to care for children, but they must be approved
by DHHS’s Division of Children, Youth and Families. To be
approved, kin must fill out the Kinship Interim Care (KIC)
Checklist (also called a “Form 2273”) and participate, cooperate,
and meet the requirements of the kinship care approval process.
If kin wish to qualify as a fully-licensed foster family,
they must meet the same requirements as non-kin. However,
the agency may waive certain licensing requirements that are
not related to the health and safety of the child. Contact:
Gail DeGoosh, Foster Care Specialist, New Hampshire Division
for Children, Youth and Families at (603) 271-4711 or Gdegoosh@dhhs.state.nh.us.
Subsidized
Guardianship: In addition to foster care payments and
other benefits available to kin raising children in foster
care, 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. New Hampshire currently
does not have a subsidized guardianship program.
State child
welfare contact: Questions about kinship foster placements
should be directed to Gail T. DeGoosh, Foster Care Specialist,
New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families, at
(603) 271-4711 or Gdegoosh@dhhs.state.nh.us.
Other Supports
for New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire’s Family
Assistance Program (FAP). 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 1-800-852-3345 x 4580 or log on to http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/.
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 New Hampshire’s Healthy
Kids Gold and Healthy Kids Silver programs. In some
cases, caregivers may also be eligible for free coverage under
Medicaid. For more information about how to apply for
these programs, call 1-877-464-2447 or log on to http://www.nhhealthykids.com/.
State Laws
and Policies
New Hampshire
currently does not have any state laws in effect specifically
directed at kinship care families.
