Barriers to Kinship Placements
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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 safetynet," 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.
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Credits: Child Welfare Information Gateway (http://www.childwelfare.gov)
