Page 99 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

The debate is complex and nuanced, but must continue to explore how the law can better support families in developing creative solutions to care for children .
The law should also accommodate a range of options that reflect the diverse needs of family . For example, concurrent or non-exclusive guardianships should be options . The relatives do not necessarily need to supplant the parent, but might share caregiving in a manner that protects the child, while preserving the child’s connection to their parent . Family courts have creatively divided time-sharing and parental decision-making between parents . In the child welfare context, courts are comfortable apportioning rights and responsibilities between the state (which has ultimate decision-making), parents (who may have some decision-making, visitation rights, and child support obligations), and custodians (who are delegated day-to-day decision-making authority) . Yet, we typically view guardianships as an exclusive transfer of rights from the parent to the third-party caregiver . Courts should come up with creative solutions that reflect the realities of caregiving in diverse families .
The model should allow alternative dispute mechanisms to help families determine the right solutions . Some families may voluntarily agree to the rearrangement of rights, particularly when permanent termination of parental rights is off the table . For some families, mediation or family conferencing models can be used to empower families to figure out the best approach .48
There should also be equal access to need-based assistance regardless of whether the child was ever involved with the child welfare system . In the current paradigm, relatives who obtain custody via the child welfare system are eligible for higher subsidies and a wider range of services . For example, Title IV-E-funded guardianship assistance programs like the one in New York can be used only to subsidize guardianships for children who exit foster care .49 Restrictions on the expenditure of federal funds must be eliminated, and one pool of flexible funding should be created for states to spend on all costs associated with preventing child maltreatment . The Pew Commission has proposed to combine Title IV-E and IB-B funds to create a new pool of flexible funding for states to use toward a variety of purposes .50 But funding would need to go further, and de-link current eligibility requirements that require state-coerced removal from the home or foster care placement as a prerequisite for assistance .
Conclusion
Federal and state policies that encourage relative caregiving for children in the child welfare system are beneficial to children and families . However, current policies provide easier and more support to relative caregivers only when child welfare intervenes in its heavy-handed and often harmful way . To move toward a public health paradigm for child well-being, relatives should be able to obtain legal custodial orders and equivalent financial support and services without coercive child welfare involvement . •
48 Id. at 640-641.
49 Subsidized Guardianship: Summary and Analysis, grandfamilies, http://www.grandfamilies.org/SubsidizedGuardianship/
SubsidizedGuardianshipSummaryAnalysis.aspx (last visited May 28, 2015).
50 Bill frenzel eT al., pew commission on children in fosTer care, fosTering The fuTure: safeTy, permanency and well-Being for children in fosTer care 13, 20 (May 2004), available at http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/ phg/content_level_pages/reports/0012pdf.pdf. (arguing for the creation of a Safe Children, Strong Families Grant which combines the Title IV-B program with the administration and training components of Title IV-E).
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