Illinois’ foster care rules historically have been set up with the expectation that children removed from their homes will be cared for by unrelated licensed foster parents. But in Illinois, the Department of Children & Family Services now places more than half of those children with relatives, and that percentage is higher in Chicago.
More needs to be done to assist relatives who take those children in.
Foster parents who are not related to the children they take in must undergo weeks of training before they are licensed. Those foster parents are reimbursed by the state at a higher level than relatives who suddenly are asked to take in children. That’s not an ideal system, because it’s often a smoother transition for children to be cared for by relatives they already know, a system called kinship care.
As Nora Collins-Mandeville, director of Systems Reform Policy for the ACLU of Illinois, says, “The outcomes are much better with relatives.”
Moreover, relatives who take in children often are more likely to be living at or near their budget limits, Collins-Mandeville said. They need the extra money.
Of course, relatives can take the licensing training, too, but they might not be able to qualify as licensed foster parents for other reasons. For example, they might not have a separate bedroom for each child. Only 40% of relatives in Illinois who have taken in children are receiving the higher reimbursement rates granted to licensed foster parents.
Uncertified relatives get a monthly stipend of $388 per child. Licensed foster parents get $544 for a child under five, $611 for children aged five to eight and $656 for child nine or older, according to Mark Testa, distinguished professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Under a new federal rule pushed by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., that was finalized in October, Illinois is now permitted — starting this month — to submit a plan to give relatives the same resources that licensed foster parents get, provided those relatives meet some standards, such as passing a background check.
Making the change would benefit the state because under the new federal policy, the state will be reimbursed for half of what it pays for reimbursements and administrative costs, which will put millions of dollars in state coffers.
Bills in the House and Senate would authorize the state to make this change, while also dealing with other issues. The Legislature should put relatives on a par with licensed foster parents.
As Dan Kotowski, president and CEO of Kids Above All, a nonprofit dedicated to building better lives for children and families, says about caring for children in general, “The real conversation should be what is best for the child.”
Kotowski is absolutely correct. The Legislature should pay attention and do the right thing.
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