relative caregivers

Three years after a federal appeals court ordered Ohio to pay those who assume custody of relatives the same amount it pays licensed foster parents, the Buckeye State continues to severely shortchange kinship caregivers, according to a lawsuit seeking to enforce the order.

With the coronavirus pandemic emptying store shelves and leaving critical items in short supply, the elderly have faced unique challenges stocking their homes with groceries, toiletries and other essentials. In Nevada, Foster Kinship Executive Director Ali Caliendo raced between four different stores to find formula for her 8-month-old son over the weekend.

Federal policymakers want to hear from the millions of relatives caring for the children of family members about how government can be a helpful partner to them. Relative caregivers of children who would otherwise often be in the foster care system are being asked to share their experiences with federal policymakers.

As states prepare for a child welfare overhaul that will limit federal funds to group care, a recent report shows that most systems are already gravitating toward greater use of family foster homes and relative caregivers.

Georgia State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D) plans to push for increased payments to relatives who care for foster children during a budget hearing Monday. Oliver will ask her colleagues on the House appropriations subcommittee for human services to commit roughly $2.68 million annually for unlicensed relative caregivers who receive significantly less from the state than licensed foster parents.

A single mother with three of her five children still teenagers living at home, 50-year-old Denita Simmons didn’t plan on adding two babies to the mix. But her godsons needed her.