Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research	BILL ANALYSIS
Children & Family Services Committee

2SSB 5480

Brief Description:  Encouraging support services for kinship caregivers.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Fairley, McAuliffe, Eide, Rasmussen, Long, Thibaudeau, Kline, Franklin, Kohl‑Welles, Regala and McCaslin).

Brief Summary of Second Substitute Bill

$Requires the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), within existing resources, to convene a workgroup on kinship caregivers, develop a briefing on the policy issues for the Legislature, and submit the briefing by November 1, 2002.

Hearing Date:  2/21/02

Staff:  Deborah Frazier (786‑7152).

Background:

Children who need out of home placement because of abuse, abandonment or neglect may be placed with relatives.  This placement may be through a formal process such as dependency or a voluntary agreement, or it may be through an informal arrangement within the family.

Relatives may or may not choose to be licensed as foster homes.  If the relative=s home is licensed, the child=s care is paid for through foster care funding, the child is eligible for Medicaid, and support services are available.  Foster care rates vary with the age of the child; the rate for a child from birth up to age six is $366 per month, per each child in placement.

If the relative=s home is not licensed, the child=s care is paid for through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants, Medicaid coverage is provided, and if the child was placed through a dependency action, support services are available.  The TANF grant for the first child, of any age, is $349 per month.  The grant is increased for each subsequent child placed by an increment of at least $91 per child, per month.

Summary of Bill:

The Legislature recognizes the value of placing children, who are at risk of foster care placement, with relatives.

The DSHS is required, within existing resources, to convene a workgroup on kinship caregivers.  The membership of the workgroup is described.  The duties of the workgroup are:

$review the Washington State Institute for Public Policy kinship caregivers study which is due in June, 2002;

$develop a briefing for the Legislature that identifies the policy issues related to kinship caregivers, the federal and state statutes associated with these issues, and options to address the issues; and

$submit the briefing to the Children and Family Services Committee of the House of Representatives by November 1, 2002.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available for original bill.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.