Under the federal Fostering Connections Act, Texas recently began providing financial assistance to relatives when they became legal guardians of children who have been abused or neglected, cannot return home, or be adopted. This paper explores whether these payments have increased overall permanent placements with relatives or have only led relatives to shift from adoption to legal guardianship, thereby increasing permanency through legal guardianships, but potentially decreasing adoptions. Early evidence suggests that while there have been increases in both overall permanency and relative guardianship, the proportion of children being adopted by a relative has declined. Link to pdf Evaluation
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Kinship Care and the Fostering Connections Act of 2008: Information Packet
National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections: There are many benefits of placing children separated from parents with their relatives. Relatives are able to offer family support and frequent contact with birth parents and siblings. Therefore, kinship care placements have become the preferred option of child welfare agencies. Under the Fostering Connections Act, there is much support for relatives caring for foster children, including: (1) federal reimbursement under Title IV-E for guardianship assistance payments, (2) requirements for states to provide relatives with notice of the placement of a related child in foster care, (3) codification of existing federal guidance permitting flexibility in foster care licensing for relatives, (4) requirements for states to make reasonable efforts to keep siblings together in foster care, and (5) grants to support maintaining family connections. Link to Info Packet