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Press Releases
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Children's Defense Fund Releases Foster Care Guides to
Programs that Encourage Placement of Children with Permanent Families |
Washington, D.C. Subsidized guardianship programs can help provide safe, permanent families for children who have been in foster care with relatives or other caregivers, and two new reports by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), one done jointly with Cornerstone Consulting Group of Houston, compare programs nationwide and discuss strategies to make them successful.
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have established subsidized guardianship programs to support families where grandparents, relatives or others have stepped in to provide permanent homes for children when their parents are unable or unwilling to do so. There is also growing momentum at the federal level for expanding such help.
The first report, Using Subsidized Guardianship to Improve Outcomes for Children: Key Questions to Consider, includes briefs on issues that have been raised as states have launched programs. The report, edited by Mary Bissell, formerly of CDF, and Jennifer Miller, a senior associate at Cornerstone, offers assistance to advocates of expanded programs who are trying to determine how to ensure that they truly benefit children.
The other publication by CDF, State's Subsidized Guardianship Laws at a Glance, provides a state-by-state look at these programs and describes which children and caregivers are eligible and the types of available assistance. Detailed tables let the reader directly compare features of the various state programs.
Both reports are available at www.childrensdefense.org/childwelfare/kinshipcare/default.asp. Another report, Family Ties: Supporting Permanence for Children in Safe and Stable Foster Care with Relatives and Other Caregivers, also released today by Fostering Results, reinforces the importance of subsidized guardianship as a cost-effective and proven alternative to retaining children in state custody. Family Ties is available at http://www.fosteringresults.org/.
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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds. |
Using Subsidized Guardianship to Improve Outcomes for Children: Key Questions to Consider