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 Wyoming
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 |
| Wyoming |
6,113 |
3,582 |
| Cheyenne
city |
602 |
340 |
| Casper
city |
489 |
267 |
| Laramie
city |
125 |
61 |
*These data
are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile
Selected Social Characteristics:
Kinship
Care Initiatives in Wyoming
In Wyoming,
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.
National
Caregiver Support Program: The Wyoming Department of Health,
Aging Division is responsible for the National Caregiver Support
Program, a federal program which provides services to grandparents
who are the guardians of children 18 years of age or younger.
These services include respite care, counseling, information
and referrals. This program serves every county in the state.
Contact: Edna Vajda, Senior Aging Services Advisor, Wyoming
Department of Health, Aging Divison, at (307) 777-7988 or
evajda@state.wy.us.
Support
Group Network for Kinship Care Families: The Wyoming Department
of Family Services is in the process of establishing a statewide
Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) under a grant from The
Brookdale Foundation. The program will create five new
support groups for kinship care families raising children
outside of the child welfare system across the state.
The groups will be run in partnership with social service
agencies in local communities. In addition to support
groups, the Department also plans to develop a service network
of local organizations serving kinship care families as well
as to offer kinship care trainings for members of the professional
community and other interested individuals. Contact: Jim Palmer,
Social Services Consultant, Wyoming Department of Family Services,
at (307) 777-6203 or jpalme2@state.wy.us or Maureen Clifton
at (307) 777-3570 or mclift@state.wy.us.
Kinship
Care and Wyoming’s Foster Care System
Sometimes
children in the care of the states are placed in foster care
with grandparents or other relatives. In Wyoming, the
Department of Family Services (DFS) reports:
Number
of children in kinship foster placements: As of June 2001,
Wyoming DFS had a total of 1,445 children in out-of-home-placements.
Of these children, 203 (14%) 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 an abused or neglected 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 training requirements and
receive the same foster care payment rate as non-kin foster
parents.
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. In Wyoming,
if family financial concerns are the only barrier to legal
guardianship, DFS may negotiate a subsidy with the family
caring for the child. The amount of the subsidy will be negotiated
between the family and the local field office staff, similar
to an adoption subsidy. The subsidy may be initiated once
the guardianship is ordered. Funding for the program is contingent
upon the availability of state money and is subject to termination
at the annual review if funds are not available. Contact:
Jim Palmer, Social Services Consultant, Wyoming Department
of Family Services, at (307) 777-6203 or jpalme2@state.wy.us.
State foster
care contact: Questions about kinship foster placements
should be directed to Jim Palmer, Social Services Consultant,
Wyoming Department of Family Services, at (307) 777-6203 or
jpalme2@state.wy.us.
Other Supports
for Wyoming 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 Wyoming’s Personal Opportunities
With Employment Responsibility (POWER) program. Kinship
care families also may be eligible for food stamps to help
meet their children’s food and nutrition needs. For
more information about these programs, contact 1-800-457-3659
or log on to http://www.dfsweb.state.wy.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 the Wyoming Medicaid
and Kid Care programs. In some cases, caregivers may
also be eligible for free coverage under Medicaid. For more
information about how to apply for Medicaid, call 1-800-251-1269
or log on to http://wdhfs.state.wy.us/WDH/medicaid.htm.
For information about Kid Care, call 1-888-996-8786 or log
on to http://kidcare.state.wy.us.
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 (WYO. STAT. § 3-2-108): This law allows
a child’s parent or legal guardian to appoint a standby guardian
to assume the care of the child upon the death or incapacity
of the parent or guardian.
