Keeping the Family Tree Intact Through Kinship Care

Keeping the Family Tree Intact Through Kinship Care

Cathy and Frank Battle thought two children was the right number for their family. Their sons, Mitchell, 3, and Anthony, 5, fulfilled their lives and their dreams.

Then in April 1994, Cathy and Frank were shocked into expanding their family. Cathy's brother-in-law, Bob, was arrested for sexually abusing his children, and the county's protective services division determined that her sister Susan's serious drug abuse problems made her an unfit mother. "We knew that there was trouble in my sister's home," Cathy said."But we had no idea that the kids were being abused. We were stunned."

The Battles are among a fast-growing number of people who are caring for a relative's children in their own family. Sometimes, the caregiver is a brother or sister, as in the Battle case. More often, it is grandparents who step in to fill the shoes of a son or daughter too overwhelmed with problems to be a nurturing parent.

More than l.3 million American children are being raised by relatives other than their parents. Even more startling, the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren soared more than 40 percent in the last decade.

Sometimes the arrangement is informal: family members decide that a child will live with a selected relative and no child welfare agency is involved. Or it may be formal: an agency retains legal custody of a child while he or she is raised by a relative. Sometimes an agency is involved initially, to plan the child's care, but does not assume legal custody.

In either case, kinship parents, as defined by the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, DC, perform the following functions:

*Protect, nurture, and care for their kin children for a temporary or extended period of time
*Assure that the children's needs are met
*Help return the children to their birthparents whenever feasible
*Help establish a plan to connect the children to safe, stable, nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime, when they cannot be reunited with their birthparents

This factsheet examines the practice of kinship care. It looks at the reasons child protection agencies are turning to relatives to care for the children in their custody, the value of kinship care, the barriers that prevent more families from participating in such arrangements, the steps some States have taken to remove those barriers, and what else needs to be done to ensure that agencies consider family first when placing a child in a foster or adoptive home.

Kinship Care: A Long Tradition

Although the number of kinship placements has climbed dramatically in recent years, the phenomenon has always been an integral part of the American fabric. In certain cultures, grandparents, other relatives, or neighbors traditionally have taken on the responsibility of raising children whose parents are unable or unwilling to care for them.

Ask any African American. Informal adoption is the norm, the traditional response of the community when a parent cannot take care of her child. It is common to see a grandmother caring for her grandson, an aunt caring for her niece, or a neighbor taking in a child from the community.

The same is true for Latinos. "In the South Texas community where I was raised, there was an informal system of intra-family adoptions that undoubtedly evolved in response to family and community needs," says Irma Herrera, Esq., director of Multicultural Education and Training Advocacy, Inc. in the San Francisco area. "Adoption was our way of distributing the burdens and benefits within a community."

A study by Kari Sandven, Ph.D., of the Riverside Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Michael D. Resnick, Ph.D., of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, found that the acceptance of informal adoption dates back to the kinship structures of ancient African cultures. It was customary then for aunts and uncles to help raise one another's children, creating the tradition of shared rather than exclusive parenting. Three generations of family lived together, and there were flexible boundaries that emphasized the clan over the nuclear family. The concept "It takes a village to raise a child" began here.

Social Workers Reexamine Kinship Care

Unfortunately, the informal adoption structure that has worked so well in the African American and Latino communities for generations is fading. Although kinship placements have soared, their numbers fall short of the need. Many potential caregivers face a cluster of problems that overwhelm the traditional tendency to take in the children of family members. Inhibiting factors include economics, two-parent working families who cannot absorb another child, and the difficulty of dealing with birthparents who may abuse alcohol or drugs or have mental health problems.

"The black family's mutual aid system of informal adoption is breaking down under the pressure of crack, prison, poverty, middle-class success, death, and do-your-own thing individualism," says Azizi Powell, former director of Black Adoption Services for Three Rivers Adoption Council in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "There are a lot of motherless children unable to go home to kin."

Nonetheless, the advantages of remaining with the family are so powerful that social workers are reexamining kinship care as the preferred family arrangement for children in the face of nuclear family breakup.

What's Good About Kinship Placements?

When children are removed from their parents' home, their world is turned upside down and they suffer physiologically and emotionally. Psychiatrist James Bowlby, who has studied the effects of separation and loss on children for more than three decades, says that such children move through three stages of mourning -- protest, despair, and detachment. They may lash out in words or behavior, then become despondent and hopeless, and finally, detach themselves emotionally to survive this significant loss. Their healthy development and ability to adjust to losses throughout life may be compromised.

When relatives are available to fill the gap, the blow is softened. Children will still feel uprooted and sad, of course, but familiar faces and surroundings and people they know and trust will comfort them. Equally important, family arrangements usually give children more stability; they are less likely to experience the numerous moves that children in foster care with nonrelatives frequently experience. A study by the Child Welfare League of America revealed that only 23 percent of children placed with relatives were not able to continue living with them after 3 years, compared with 58 percent of children in nonrelative foster care.

Children living with family may have a better chance to stay in touch with their parents. It is easier for the parents to call or visit more often, and perhaps participate to some extent in raising their children. Parents may still be included in family events and there may be pictures of them in the house-all of which keeps children from feeling totally cut off from their past. Relatives' attitudes about children in their family are likely to be more positive than those of nonrelatives, though this is not always the case. Relatives know more about the children's history and may be less fearful of unknown factors in their background.

A study by social worker Timothy J. Gebel supports the idea that relatives generally have a more positive perception of children in their care than do nonrelative foster parents-and are more likely to like and accept them. In Gebel's research, relatives tended to describe the children in their care as "very good natured" while nonrelatives were more likely to call them "difficult to handle." The two attitudes, of course, have different impacts on a child's development.

It is not only the children who benefit from staying in their family. Blood ties run deep, and brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, and uncles often feel more comfortable knowing that the children in their family are being nurtured and lovingly cared for by people they know. Many grandparents say they couldn't tolerate being shut out of their grandchildren's lives or having a stranger take care of them. The anxiety about their well-being and safety would be unbearable.

Barriers to Kinship Placements

Despite the value to children of remaining with their extended families, and the concern of relatives about the future of their nieces, nephews, and grandchildren, there are many reasons why adult relatives may be unwilling to take on the responsibility of a child's care. Some just can't afford another mouth to feed, especially if their only income is a social security check. Indeed, a 1989 study by the National Black Child Development Institute in Washington, DC, found that the most common reason relatives felt they couldn't care for kin was "a lack of financial or housing resources."

Others worry that they will not be able to get appropriate help to deal with problems the children are almost certain to have-those that arise from their unmet physical and developmental needs and their histories of family crisis.

"Unfortunately, America's child-serving systems have been slow to respond and often don't give these children and their caregivers the services and support they desperately need," confirms Robin Scott, program associate at the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, DC. "It often keeps relatives from taking them in."

"These kids come to us with problems we never had to deal with," says Rosalee Cauley, director of Grandparents as Parents, a support group in Lakewood, California, for grandparents raising their grandchildren. "Most have been neglected and malnourished. Some have been abused. Others, like my grandson, were born exposed to drugs and have serious emotional and learning problems." She started her group, one of eight chapters in the State, because of the unique needs and sparse support for grandparents who are parenting a second set of children.

Unless relatives have legal custody of the children, they often face additional problems associated with their less-than-parents status. They are responsible for the children's health, safety, and well-being but may not have authority to make medical and educational decisions on their behalf. Then too, the children can be removed from their home at any time, against their wishes, and returned to the birthparents.

That's what happened to Cauley. Her grandson, Josh, came to live with her when he was two because his mother's drug addiction made it impossible for her to care for him. Ten years later, the county child protection agency returned Josh to his mother even though Cauley feared for her grandson's welfare and fought the decision. Fortunately, Cauley and her husband were awarded visitation rights. "We were his safety net," she says. However, Josh's reunion with his mother did not work out; she continued to use drugs and expose her son to an unstable lifestyle. A year later, he ran away from his mother and back to his grandmother.

Cauley's organization is sometimes the only source of support for grandparents whose care of young children puts them out of step with others their age. "Friends are at a different stage in their lives -- one that doesn't want a 3-year-old tagging along at lunch," says Cauley. "They stop coming around. Their attitude is, 'Been there, done that."

Sometimes, the siblings of the child's birthmother are jealous and withdraw support. They resent the attention their parents focus on the child, sometimes at the expense of other grandchildren in the family.

Then, there is the problem of the birthparents. Some relatives do not want the intrusion of a mother or father who may be disruptive or who is abusing alcohol or drugs. They fear that the birthparents will be troublesome or that they may end up with the unwelcome responsibility of taking care of them as well.

Making the Decision

It is obvious that the decision to care for a relative's child should not be made lightly. It is a choice that will bring dramatic changes to the lifestyle of the caregiver, especially a grandparent who may have seen this stage of life as a time to be free, to travel, to take classes, or just to enjoy a more relaxed family and social life.

Before making a decision, it makes sense for potential relative caregivers to explore these issues:

*Are they ready to make the significant changes in their life that the care of a child requires? These may include changes in lifestyle, job, social activities, housing, and privacy.
*How do other family members-husband or children-feel about it? Are they supportive? To what extent will they participate in the child's care?
*How will potential caregivers relate to the child's birthmother or birthfather? What are their expectations?
*How do they feel about the child? How prepared are they to deal with problems the child may have because of past experiences?
*Can they afford the cost of caring for the child?
*Does their health -- physical or emotional -- allow them to make this commitment?
*What services and resources are available from public and private agencies that might significantly affect their ability to handle the new responsibility?

Adoption experts like Lois Melina, editor of Adopted Child newsletter and nationally known author of a number of books on adoption, caution family members to search their souls before agreeing to a kinship placement. Perhaps most important is their attitude toward the child. Can they accept him or her as a unique individual or will they expect the child to have the same weaknesses as the mother or father? Also critical, are they prepared to explain the birthparents' problems to the children in a way that will not damage their perceptions of them? Can they, for instance, separate a mother's behavior from her value as a human being so her child can feel good about being connected to her?

"This is an issue, of course, for all foster parents, even when they are not relatives," says Melina. "But it's more complicated with family members. It's easier, for example, for a nonrelative to speak compassionately about a birthparent who is an alcoholic than for a family member who has experienced firsthand the birthparent's violence when drunk, inability to take responsibility for his actions, expectations that he will be forgiven for his offenses when he is sober, and refusal to seek help."

Relative caregivers must also be able to develop ground rules about the role of the birthparent -- how often she will visit, how much she will participate in the child's upbringing, which parenting decisions, if any, she will make, and how she is expected to behave if she wants to see her child.

Children also must be helped to sort out their confusion about who the parents really are and who is in charge of their life. Is it the birthmother who shows up from time to time or the aunt with whom a child lives? The way the family handles these issues affects the relationship between the birthparent and caregiver relatives as well as the child's perception of himself.

These issues become even more complex when the informal or formal foster care arrangement turns into a permanent adoption.

"Adoption within families is not without its own unique challenges," says Sharon Kaplan Roszia, co-author of Open Adoption Experience and a well-known expert on foster parenting and adoption. In family adoption, everyone has two relationships to the child. The child's birth relatives are also his adoptive relatives. Adoption within a family may have 'strings attached' that reflect underlying issues in the family. Nonetheless, the child will not be confused about who his parents are as long as the adults are not confused and act accordingly."

>b>The Agency's Responsibility

Whether or not child welfare agencies place a child with a relative, they have the responsibility of ensuring that the child is living in a safe, nurturing, and loving environment. They must explore with prospective foster parents or adopters their motivations for caring for the child and the realities of raising him. They must give them appropriate training and inform them about the range of services available to support them along the way.

Child welfare experts believe that more families would take in their relatives' children if they were aware of services available to them, whether or not they are working with a social service agency. Table 1 on the next page lists major public assistance programs and indicates some of the services for which families may be eligible.

Caregivers should contact their public assistance office to learn about programs for which they or their children qualify. Documents they should gather before applying for assistance include those listed in Table 2 on the next page.

Community organizations such as foster parent groups, adoptive parent groups, and community health associations can be helpful both as sources of support and providers of resource lists and referrals. Some can help children cope with the emotional and psychological issues they face.

Cauley says she was never told by anyone that so many services were available for her grandson. "It was nearly 2 years before I found out that he was eligible for social security," she said. "Even though the county had legal custody of him, it took a year and a half before we received a Medicaid card for him. In that time, we had to spend our life savings to get him the help he needed." She urges anyone considering care of a relative to ask questions. The local child welfare agency can help even if it is not involved in the placement.

Cathy Battle delivers the same message. When Patty and David came to live with her and her husband, they needed counseling, medical care, and dental work. Their mother was supposed to pay child support, but she never did. Battle learned about subsidies for the children, their eligibility for Medicaid, and other programs by talking with others she met in classes for relative caregivers that her county offered.

Table 1 - Public Assistance Programs

Aid to Familieswith DependentChildren (AFDC)-Provides monthly monetary amount based on family's income, or, in the case of a relative caregiver, the child's income. Amount and eligibility requirements determined by individual States. National program funded by States and Federal Government, commonly called "welfare."

Food stamps- Benefit based on the number of people in household and household income. National program administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Medicaid- Provides medical care to people with low income, the blind or disabled, and dependent children of families that meet specific criteria. National program for which States set many of the requirements.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)- Provides low-income senior citizens or blind or disabled people with monthly stipend. Children can qualify if they are blind, physically disabled, have a mental disorder, or are mentally retarded, provided the household meets the program's income requirements.

Table 2 - Documents Required for Public

*Assistance
*Child's birth certificate
*Caregiver's birth certificate
*Social security numbers for everyone in the family
*Proof of income for everyone in family (e.g., pay stubs, AFDC or Social Security award letter, child support letter)
*Proof of family assets (e.g., bank statements, deed to house)
*Proof of household expenses (e.g., rent, electric and medical bills, child care expenses)

Special State and City Efforts

Some jurisdictions have so many children in relative foster homes that they have had to take a good, hard look at the practice. The City of New York and the State of Illinois are two examples. Their experience may help other jurisdictions that are still determining their kinship family policies and regulations.

New York City

New York City, where more than half of all children in foster care live with relatives, established a task force to gather information that would be helpful to agencies when placing children with family members. This is what the task force learned:

*Quality of home/appropriate placement -- The majority of families studied were poor, stable, and hardworking, with family members who cared about one another's welfare. Relatives were more willing than traditional foster parents to care for large sibling groups.
*Supervision-- Kinship families had little interaction with agency workers, and caseworkers did not document the agency's participation in planning and implementing parent visits.
*Access to services -- Although nearly half the children studied were exposed to drugs in utero, there was no indication they were receiving special attention for developmental problems. Some workers noted that a number of the caregivers were "overburdened," birthparents with social services to help them with their problems.
*Permanency planning -- The goal for most of the children was reunification with birthparents, regardless of how unrealistic that plan might be.
*Equity -- Kinship providers received a higher stipend than birth families who relied on AFDC. The task force questioned the fairness of that differential.

Illinois

Illinois, which also has more than half its foster care population in relatives' homes, commissioned a study to evaluate agency procedures and make recommendations. The outcome was the "Home of Relatives Reform Plan." These are its goals:

*Respect the values, strengths, and traditions of kinship care while assuring the child's safety and security.
*Encourage relative placements by not subjecting them to the same licensing standards (income requirements, for example) as unrelated foster parents.
*Meet the State's obligation to ensure adequate care and safety of children in its custody.
*Expand permanency options for children in kinship care, so that relatives may have more decisionmaking authority and children can become a legal part of the extended family structure.

Subsidized Guardianship

Ten States (see box) have developed programs of subsidized guardianship to help relatives who are willing to care for children in their families but are unable to afford it. Through these programs, the State provides the families with a monthly payment and allows them to make all major decisions about the children. These families are not expected to meet the same criteria as traditional foster parents.

States using this plan report that it has been helpful for children who need permanency, but for whom adoption and reunion with their parents have been ruled out. Administrative costs are lower than for traditional foster care since little supervision is required.

The Child Welfare League of America and its North American Kinship Care Policy and Practice Committee believe that child welfare agencies can do much to ensure the success of kinship placements and work toward permanency for children by providing the following:

*Family preservation services -- Secure parental agreement for a child's temporary placement with a relative to help parents through a crisis and avoid court involvement.
*Family support services -- Work with birthparents, relatives, and the child to create a plan for the child's care and welfare. Options are enlisting relatives to demonstrate appropriate child care techniques to birthparents or asking relatives to provide child care while birthparents work or improve their lives.
*Family reunification services -- Return children from traditional foster care to a relative's home. Relatives, in these cases, need support services to understand the children's needs and resolve family relationship issues.
*Respite care -- Encourage relatives to be respite care providers, even if they cannot care for the children all day every day. Also, encourage relatives to make use of outside respite care providers if that will help to stabilize the placement.

The League has also developed guidelines that agencies can use to assess the appropriateness of a family member as caregiver. The League recommends that an assessment include a review of the following:

*Nature and quality of the relationship between child and relative
*Ability and desire of the kinship parent to protect the child from further abuse or other maltreatment
*Safety of the kinship home and ability of kin to provide a nurturing environment for the child
*Willingness of the kinship family to accept the child into the home
*Ability of the family to meet the developmental needs of the child
*Nature and quality of the relationship between the birthparent and the caregiver, including the birthparents' preference about placing the child with kin
*Any family dynamics in the home related to the abuse or neglect of the child
*Presence of alcohol or other drug use in the prospective home
*Family's willingness and ability to cooperate with the agency
*Existing supports to which the family has access
*Number of children already being cared for by the relative and status of other children in the home (such as HIV status, drug or alcohol exposure, or medical conditions)
*Health of the caregiver
*Age of the caregiver in light of the child's developmental and long-term needs
*When relevant, the possibility that the relatives will pressure the child into recanting a disclosure of abuse

Other Forms of Kinship Care

There are other forms of kinship care besides those mentioned previously. In this section we look at three: stepparent adoption, co-guardianship, and standby guardianship.

Stepparent Adoption

Stepparent adoption is the most common type of adoption in the United States. Statutes on stepparent adoption have long been on the books throughout the country. Approximately 42 percent, on average, of all adoptions each year are by stepparents of their stepchildren. Little is written about issues unique to people considering this option to protect their relationship with their stepchildren. When a birthparent has disappeared, withdrawn any contact, or died, or if the child was an infant when a separation occurred, the legal bond of adoption is often in the child's best interest. However, even in these cases in which one birthparent remains part of the child's life, the child may be troubled by some of the same issues that distress children in other kinship arrangements and in traditional adoptions. At various stages in life, the child may feel loss, rejection, abandonment, anger, or resentment. Also, having been legally adopted does not necessarily keep a child from wanting to search for the other birthparent or birth relatives.

Legal adoption by a stepparent is not the best option in every case. Sometimes a child remembers a birthparent with love (especially if he or she has died, not just disappeared) and does not want to be adopted. Or, the child may be in touch with grandparents, aunts, or other relatives who would prefer that legal adoption not take place. The relationship between the stepparent and child can be protected, however, should the spouse die, through a legal guardianship or naming the stepparent as guardian in a will.

The best source for information for those who would like to adopt a stepchild is the clerk of court in the county where they intend to file the petition to adopt. The clerk knows the applicable State laws, whether a home study is necessary, and what the filing fee is. The family does not necessarily need an attorney to file the petition; they can file it themselves, especially if the adoption is not being contested by the other biological parent. If funds are available, it doesn't hurt to have an attorney do it or give advice.

If the other biological parent has not relinquished rights, it may be necessary for the State to hold a termination-of-parental-rights hearing, put a notice in a newspaper, or send a registered letter to the last known address of that parent and wait a specified amount of time. In some States the termination hearing is separate from the adoption hearing; in other States both can occur at the same time.

In some States and some counties there must be an adoption home study for a stepparent adoption, in others not, and in still others a home study can be waived at the judge's discretion. Sometimes a social worker at the court does the home study; sometimes the judge assigns it to the Department of Social Services, which usually does it at low or no cost; or sometimes it is assigned to a private agency, where there is a cost. For specific statute language, see Appendix III.

Co-guardianship

Co-guardianship allows a parent who, perhaps because of immaturity or a disability, cannot be an active parent, to retain custody of her children if a relative is able to help. In these cases, the court appoints a relative as co-guardian with the legal authority to parent the child. Courts may appoint more than one relative, giving children the support of a network of people. Although co-guardianship is available in every State under traditional guardianship laws, few people know about the option.

Standby Guardianship

A fairly new form of guardianship that has been enacted in only seven States over the last few years is standby guardianship. This type of guardianship was developed for parents with a terminal illness who want to establish who will raise their children in their absence or during periods when they become incapacitated. This form of kinship care was primarily prompted by the needs of children destined to be orphaned by AIDS. It is a legal arrangement that permits a parent to stay in her children's lives until she dies without putting them into foster care. At her death or incapacity, the "standby guardian takes over; meanwhile, the children have gotten to know the new guardian and do not feel as though they are moving in with a stranger. Before such guardianships existed, terminally ill parents who wanted to plan for their children's future had to give up parental rights to another person or name a guardian in their will.

Myra's case exemplifies this new type of guardianship. Myra was diagnosed with AIDS in her late thirties and knew she had to plan for what would happen to her daughters, Fayette, 10, and Bianca, 6. After looking at her options, she settled on a standby guardianship plan that allowed her to retain parental rights as long as she was able, yet gave her the peace of mind of knowing someone would care for her children when she could not. The plan allowed Myra to give up custody of her children when she was too sick to handle them, but retrieve it when her illness went into remission. In Myra's case, she ultimately chose a relative as her standby guardian. This type of guardianship has been established as a legal option in seven States (see box). California offers its residents a similar plan with one modification: the parent and standby guardian must share major decisions about the child from the time the guardian is named, forcing parents to give up some of their parental rights immediately.

Conclusion

The ancient tradition of taking in kin has come full circle. Today's social workers, recognizing the value of kinship care long practiced informally in certain cultures, are reaching out to families to provide a safe, stable, and loving environment for children who can no longer live with their birthparents. The need is expected to increase as the number of children in foster care continues to grow.

There is significant value both to the child and to his or her relatives when the child remains in the family. However, financial, emotional, and practical barriers often make it difficult for relatives to take on this responsibility. Families need to consider carefully their own needs, the child's needs, their motivation, and their ability to assume responsibility for raising a child. At the same time, agencies should work closely with families to help train them and to give them access to the many resources and community services available to them and the children. This kind of support will encourage relatives to follow an old tradition and keep families together.

Written by Gloria Hochman with research assistance from Mady Prowler and Anna Huston, all of the National Adoption Center, for the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, 1996. Revised 1997.

APPENDIX I: Characteristics of Kinship Care Providers

Researchers have found that kinship caregivers share a number of qualities. These include the following:

*Most kinship parents are grandmothers or other close relatives. University of Maryland School of Medicine researcher Howard Dubowitz, in his 1990 study of kinship cases in Baltimore, found that one-half of the providers were grandmothers; one-third were aunts.
*Kinship families are predominately families of color. Ninety percent of New York City kinship providers were African-American, according to a 1987 study by researcher Jesse L. Thorton. Dubowitz's study showed the same percentage in Baltimore.
*Kinship families tend to have limited incomes. Thorton found that although nearly half of the kinship providers worked full-time, they were also more likely to receive AFDC (33 percent) than their traditional foster care counterparts (6 percent).
*Kinship families have less formal contact with social workers than traditional foster families. In the Maryland study, relative caregivers were visited by social workers 40.8 percent of the time; nonrelative foster homes were visited 53.2 percent of the time. Only 37 percent of relatives had telephone contact with social workers, compared with 83.5 percent of traditional foster families.
*Families were overwhelmingly against adopting their foster children. Thorton found that 85 percent of families studied did not want to adopt the children. Most believed it wasn't necessary because they were "already family." Others thought it would cause problems in their relationships with the child's birthparents. Despite reservations about adoption, these families remained committed to the children in their care. Seventy percent said they would allow the child to stay either "as long as he/she wants to remain in the home" or "until he/she is able to take care of him/herself."

APPENDIX II: Resources and Support Groups for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

American Association of Retired Persons Grandparents Information Center
601 East E St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20049
(202) 434-2296

Child Welfare League of America
440 First St., N.W., Ste. 310
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 683-4004

Dependent Care Connection
P.O. Box 2783
Westport, CT 06880
(800) 873-4636

Grandparents As Parents
P.O. Box 964
Lakewood, CA 90714
(310) 924-3996

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Lois M. Holloway-Day
P.O. Box 583
Pleasantville, NJ 08232
(609) 645-3061

Grandparents Reaching Out
Mildred Horn
141 Glensummer Rd.
Holbrook, NY 11741
(516) 472-9728

Grandparents' Rights Organization
555 S. Woodward, Ste. 600
Birmingham, MI 48009
(810) 646-7191

Grandparents United For Children's Rights
137 Larkin St.
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 238-8751

Grans In Action
Barbara Montague-Graham
607 Easton Rd., Ste. C3
Willow Grove, PA 19090
(215) 659-7323

National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
330 C Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20447
(703) 352-3488 or (888) 251-0075

National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association
100 W. Harrison St.
North Tower - Ste. 500
Seattle, WA 98119-4123
(206) 270-0072

National Task Force For Children's Constitutional Rights
P.O Box 1620
Litchfield, CT 06759
(203) 567-5437

Parents As Tender Healers (Preparation program for adoptive, foster, and kinship families for fostering and adoption)
National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption
A Division of Spaulding for Children - Michigan
16250 Northland Dr., Ste. 120
Southfield, MI 48075
(248) 443-7080

Parents Once Again, The Parent Action Network
1401 Arch St., 5th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 686-8650

ROCKING (Raising Our Children's Kids: An Intergenerational Network of Grandparents)
Mary Fron
P.O Box 96
Niles, MI 49120
(616) 683-9038

Your Grandchild: A Newsletter for Today's Grandparents
Trozzolo Resources
(800) 243-5201
$12.95 for subscription

APPENDIX III: State Stepparent Adoption Laws

This list includes States in which stepparents are mentioned in the "Who Can Adopt" statutes summarized in Adoption Laws: Answers to Most-Asked Questions, published in 1995 by the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse publishes this as a service to the adoption community, but it can never serve as a replacement for legal advice from a licensed attorney practicing in the field of adoption in the State(s) where both the potential adoptive parent(s) and the child(ren) to be adopted reside. We also cannot guarantee accuracy; changes in State law may have occurred since the research was conducted.

Alaska A single adult, a husband and wife together, or the unmarried father or mother of the child can adopt. Married persons can adopt without their spouse's consent if the spouse wanting to adopt is a stepparent, or they are legally separated, or if failure of the other spouse to join the adoption is excused by the court.

Arkansas Any single adult, husband and wife jointly, even if one or both are minors, and the unmarried father or mother of the adoptee can adopt. A married person, without the spouse joining, can adopt if the adoptive parent is the stepparent and the other spouse consents, the spouses are legally separated, or the court has excused the spouse from consenting to the adoption.

California Any adults can adopt, as long as they are at least 10 years older than the adoptee. A court may waive the 10-year requirement if the adoption is by a stepparent or relative and if it is in the child's best interest. If a spouse wants to adopt, the other spouse must give consent, unless they are legally separated.

Colorado Any person who is at least 21 years of age, including a foster parent, may adopt. A minor, with court approval, may adopt. A married couple must jointly petition to adopt, unless they are legally separated or one parent is the natural parent of the child or has previously adopted the child.

Connecticut Any adult person may adopt. Married persons must adopt jointly, unless the court approves an adoption agreement by either one of them alone. The court shall not disapprove any adoption solely because of the adopting parent's marital status, or because of difference in race, color, or religion between the adoptive parent and the adoptee. The sexual orientation of the adoptive parents may be considered, but no specific orientation will be required.

District of Columbia Any person may adopt. A husband and wife must file jointly to adopt, unless the person is a stepparent; then the natural parent need not join in the adoption.

Florida The following people whose primary residence and place of employment are in Florida may adopt:

1 an unmarried adult, including the birth parent
2 a husband and wife jointly
3 an unmarried minor birth parent

*A stepparent may adopt without his spouse joining in the adoption as long as the spouse consents to the adoption. A married person may adopt without the other spouse if the spouse's failure to consent is excused by the court. In the case of a special needs child, Florida residency is not required. A homosexual may not adopt. No person can be prohibited from adopting solely because he or she is handicapped, unless the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services determines that the handicap makes him or her incapable of being an effective parent.
Georgia Any adult person, including a foster parent, may adopt a child, if the person is at least 25 years old or is married and living with his or her spouse; is at least 10 years older than the child; has been a resident of Georgia for at least 6 months before filing to adopt; and is financially, physically, and mentally able to have permanent custody of a child. Married persons must adopt jointly, unless the person who wants to adopt is the stepparent; then that person can file to adopt alone.

Hawaii Any single adult or stepparent may adopt, or a married couple may jointly adopt.

Idaho The person adopting a child must be at least 15 years older than the adoptee, or 25 years of age or older, unless the adopting parent is a stepparent. The adoptive parent must have lived in the State for at least 6 consecutive months. The age restrictions cited above do not apply if the adoptee is an adult and the adoptive parent shows that a substantial relationship as parent has been maintained for more than one year.

Illinois A reputable adult of either sex who has lived in Illinois for at least 6 months may adopt. If the adoption is through a public child welfare or licensed child welfare agency or is a relative adoption, then the 6-month residency requirement does not apply. If the person is married, her or his spouse must file jointly, even if a stepparent is seeking to adopt. A minor may also adopt if the court finds good cause for it.

Indiana Any person can adopt. A married couple must adopt jointly, unless the person seeking to adopt is the stepparent. In a stepparent adoption, the natural parent, who is the spouse of the stepparent, does not have to join the petition.

Iowa Any unmarried adult, or a husband and wife jointly, can adopt. A spouse can adopt separately if he or she is the stepparent of the adoptee, if he or she is separated from his or her spouse, or if the other spouse is unavailable, incapacitated, or has unreasonably withheld consent to the adoption.

Kansas Any person can adopt. A married couple must adopt jointly, unless the person seeking to adopt is the stepparent. In a stepparent adoption, the natural parent, who is the spouse of the stepparent, does not have to join the adoption.

Kentucky Any adult who has lived in the State for 1 year may adopt. A husband and wife must file to adopt jointly, unless the judge allows an exemption, or unless the party wishing to adopt is a stepparent.

Louisiana A single person 18 years of age or older can adopt. A married couple jointly can adopt, unless the person seeking to adopt is a stepparent; then she or he can adopt without the spouse joining.

Maryland Any single adult, a husband and wife jointly, a stepparent, and a spouse that is divorced or separated may adopt a child. A court shall not deny an adoption solely because the petitioner is single.

Montana The following parties may adopt:

1 any single person at least 21 years of age
2 a married couple filing jointly, or a
3 stepparent filing without the spouse joining
a married person at least 21 years old who is legally separated from the spouse
4 an unmarried parent of an illegitimate child

Nebraska Any single adult can adopt. A husband and wife must jointly adopt, unless the adoptive parent is a stepparent. In that case the spouse, who is the natural parent, does not have to join the adoption.

New Hampshire Any single person who is neither a minor nor a homosexual may adopt. A husband and wife may adopt together; however, one spouse may adopt without the other spouse if they are legally separated, if one spouse is unreasonably withholding consent to the adoption, or if one spouse is the natural parent. In addition, foster parents may adopt.

New Mexico Only New Mexico residents may adopt. An unmarried adult may adopt and a married person, whether an adult or minor, may adopt. However, a married person must adopt jointly with his or her spouse unless they are legally separated, the failure of the nonjoining spouse to join is excused by the court, or it is a stepparent adoption.

New York Any adult unmarried person or an adult husband and wife jointly may adopt. Any adult married person who is living separately pursuant to a legally enforceable separation agreement may adopt alone, as long as the person being adopted is not his stepchild. A minor spouse may adopt his or her own or the other spouse's child who was born either in or out of wedlock.

North Carolina Any person over 18 years of age who has lived in North Carolina for 6 months may adopt. A husband and wife must jointly adopt, unless the person seeking to adopt is the stepparent; then the spouse does not need to join in the adoption. If the prospective adoptive parent is the biological parent or stepparent, this person may adopt even if he or she is younger than 18 years of age.

North Dakota Any unmarried adult, or the unmarried father or mother of the adoptee may adopt. In addition, the following people may adopt without their spouse: a stepparent, a person who is legally separated, and a person whose spouse is excused by the court due to that spouse's unavailability, incapacity, or unreasonable withholding of consent.

Ohio The following persons may adopt:

1 a husband and wife together, at least one of whom is an adult
2 an unmarried adult
3 a married adult without the other spouse, if he or she is a stepparent, or if failure of the other spouse to join is a result of prolonged unexplained absence, unavailability, incapacity, or it is impossible or unreasonably difficult to obtain the spouse's consent.

Oklahoma Any unmarried person who is at least 21 years of age, or a husband and wife jointly, may adopt. A married person may adopt without the other spouse if they are legally separated, if one spouse is a stepparent, or if the child is born out of wedlock.

Rhode Island Any person who lives in the State can adopt any younger person. A husband and wife must adopt jointly, unless good cause is shown.

Tennessee Any person over 18 years of age and who has lived in the State for at least 1 year can adopt. A husband and wife must adopt jointly, except in the case of stepparent adoption, where the spouse who is the natural parent does not need to join in the adoption. Foster parents who have had care of the child for at least 1 year and are otherwise qualified shall be given preference.

Texas Any adult may adopt. A husband and wife must adopt jointly, including the spouse of a stepparent.

Virginia Any natural parent who lives in the State may adopt. A married couple must jointly adopt, unless the spouse who is adopting is the stepparent; then the spouse can adopt without the other spouse joining.

West Virginia Any single or married person, either with his or her spouse jointly or with his or her spouse's consent, can adopt.

Wisconsin An unmarried adult or husband and wife jointly, who are residents of the State, may adopt. A husband or wife may adopt if the other spouse is the minor's parent. When practicable, and if requested by the birthparents, the adoptive parents shall be of the same religious faith as the birthparents. No person shall be excluded from adopting because of a physical handicap or because of race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin.

Wyoming Any adult who has lived in the State during the 60 days prior to the filing of the petition and who is determined by the court to be fit and competent to be a parent may adopt. A husband and wife must file jointly, unless a stepparent is adopting; then the stepparent can adopt without the natural parent joining the adoption.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Association of Retired Persons Grandparent Information Center. Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren. Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons, 1993.

Beatty, Cynthia, and Burdnell-Wilson, Dana. "Legal Guardianship: A Stable, Flexible Option for Real-World Children and Families," Children's Voice, v4 n4, Summer 1995, pp. 8-10.

Besharov, Douglas J."Crack Children in Foster Care: Reexamining the Balance Between Children's Rights and Parent's Rights," Children Today, v19 n4, July-August 1990, pp. 21-25, 35.

Bowlby, James. "Pathological Mourning and Childhood Mourning," Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1993, n11, pp. 500-541.

Bowlby, James. "Loss: Sadness and Depression," Attachment and Loss: Volume 3. New York: Basic Books, 1980.

Brodzinsky, David, and Schechter, Marshall D., eds. The Psychology of Adoption. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Child Welfare League of America. Fact Sheet: Kinship Care. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 1993.

de Toledo, Sylvie, and Edler-Brown, Debra. Grandparents as Parents: A Survival Guide for Raising a Second Family. New York: Guilford Press, 1995.

Dubowitz, Howard. The Physical and Mental Health and Educational Status of Children Placed With Relatives: Final Report. Baltimore, MD: University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1990.

Edelstein, Susan B. Children with Prenatal Alcohol and/or Drug Exposure: Weighing the Risks of Adoption. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 1995.

Gebel, Timothy. "Kinship Care and Non-Family Foster Care: A Comparison of Caregivers Attributes and Attitudes," Child Welfare, vLXXV n1, January-February 1996, pp. 5-18.

Herrera, Irma D. "Hispanic Attitudes Towards Adoption," Pact Press, v1 n3, Autumn 1992, p. 7.

Horowitz, Robert. Adoption Laws: Answers to the Most-Asked Questions. Rockville, MD: National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, 1995.

Liptak, Karen. Adoption Controversies. New York: Franklin Watts, 1993.

Lyman, Susan B., and Bird, Gloria W. "A Closer Look at Self-Image in Male Foster Care Adolescents," Social Work, v41 n1, January 1996, pp. 85-96.

Melina, Lois Ruskai, and Roszia, Sharon Kaplan. The Open Adoption Experience: A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families-From Making the Decision Through the Child's Growing Years. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.

Melina, Lois. "Relative Adoptions Have Benefits, but Also Unique Challenges," Adopted Child, v12 n2, February 1993, pp. 1-4.

Merkel-Holguin, Lisa. Children Who Lose Their Parents to HIV/AIDS, Agency Guidelines for Adoptive and Kinship Placement. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 1996.

North American Kinship Care Policy and Practice Committee. Kinship Care: A Natural Bridge. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 1994.

Palmer, Sally E. Maintaining Family Ties: Inclusive Practice in Foster Care. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 1995.

Reynolds, Nancy T. "Stepparent Adoption: Evaluating the Options," Roots & Wings, v5 n4, Spring 1994, pp. 29-30.

Sandven, Kari, and Resnick, Michael D. "Informal Adoption Among Black Adolescent Mothers," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, v60 n2, April 1990, pp. 210-224.

Scannapieco, Maria and Jackson, Sondra. "Kinship Care: The African American Response to Family Preservation," Social Work, v41 n2, March 1996, pp. 190-196.

Spar, Karen. 'Kinship' Foster Care: An Emerging Federal Issue. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, CRS Report for Congress (93-856 EPW), 1993.

Takas, Marianne. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Guide to Finding Help and Hope. New York: Brookdale Foundation, 1996 (distributed by the National Foster Parent Association, Crystal Lake, Illinois).

Task Force on Permanency Planning for Foster Children, Inc. Kinship Foster Care: The Double Edged Dilemma. New York: New York City Child Welfare Administration, October 1990.

Teare, Catherine "Advocates Struggle to Develop Placement Options for AIDS Orphans," Youth Law News, v15 n3, May-June 1994, pp. 1-7.

Thorton, Jesse L. "Permanency Planning for Children in Kinship Foster Homes," Child Welfare, vLXX n5, September-October 1991, pp. 593-601.

Thorton, Jesse L. An Investigation Into the Nature of Foster Homes. New York: Yeshiva University D.S.W. Dissertation, 1987.

Woodworth, Renee S. and Dabelko, Holly. "Respite Services to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren." Chapel Hill, NC: National Resource Center for Respite and Crisis Care Services, ARCH Factsheet Number 45, May 1996.

This material has been taken from the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse Web site as reviewed and approved for addition to this site on December 28, 2003.

The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse http://naic.acf.hhs.gov, can be reached toll free at 1-888-251-0075,or by e-mail at: naic@calib.com.