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.
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.
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.
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.
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, coauthor 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."
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.
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."
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.
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)
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.
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
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.
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. Used by permission.
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
Grans In Action
Barbara Montague-Graham
607 Easton Rd., Ste. C3
Willow Grove, PA 19090
(215) 659-7323
Child
Welfare Information Gateway (formerly
the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
NAIC)
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW
Eighth Floor
Washington, DC 20024
703.385.7565 or 800.394.3366
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
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:
an unmarried adult, including the birth
parent
a husband and wife jointly
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:
any single person at least 21 years of
age
a married couple filing jointly, or a
stepparent filing without the spouse joining
a married person at least 21 years old
who is legally separated from the spouse
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:
a husband and wife together, at least
one of whom is an adult
an unmarried adult
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.
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and distributed without permission; however,
appropriate citation must be given to the Child
Welfare Information Gateway (formerly
the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse).
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