TYLA Project

Permanent Kinship Placements
By: Sara Anne Giddings

In August 2012, I learned that my cousin’s baby, Cassi, had been taken into custody by CPS.  My immediate response was one of concern.  My next instinct was that we needed to find a home for Cassi.  Cassi was initially placed with a close family friend, but as it became more apparent that the CPS case was not going to be settled quickly, Cassi came to live with my parents and me.  After raising two children of their own who had long since grown out of diapers, high chairs, car seats, cribs, and onesies, my parents suddenly had a 1 ½-year-old invade their house.  In August 2013, it was determined that a more permanent solution was needed and my parents and I became her primary managing conservators under a permanent kinship placement.  Cassi is now 4, or almost 5 as she will tell you, and she is very much a part of our family. 

My family’s experience is not unique.  For the 2015 fiscal year, 27,895 children were in the care of the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS).  Out of those 27,895 children, 10,355 were placed in Kinship Care, accounting for over 37 percent of all placements.  Since 2015, the DFPS has focused on an initiative to reduce the time a child spends in non-permanent situations.  As a part of this initiative, the DFPS is focusing on having more children placed in permanent kinship placements.  For the 2015 fiscal year, 31.2 percent of children in the care of DFPS were placed with permanent kinship placements. 

The experience of a kinship placement, particularly a permanent kinship placement, has not been without its trials and struggles.  One of the areas that has been particularly challenging for me, and especially for my parents, is understanding the legal rights and obligations of a permanent kinship caregiver.  Deciding whether to become a permanent kinship caregiver is a big decision; however, more often than not, kinship caregivers are not provided with the information that they need when making this decision.  The TYLA brochure Permanent Kinship Placement addresses what the decision to become a permanent kinship caregiver means and what a caregiver’s rights and obligations are as a permanent kinship placement.  The brochure outlines what happens when a kinship caregiver becomes the permanent kinship caregiver.  Further, the brochure details what rights the permanent kinship caregiver has and what rights the biological parents may have.  Additionally, it discusses financial assistance that may be available, as well as other useful information needed when considering permanent kinship placement. 

Family members that are willing to open their homes for a kinship placement are truly a blessing.  However, they are often not provided with much legal guidance.  As one kinship placement told me, “I wish I had read this brochure before I became a permanent kinship placement.  There is so much information that I had to learn on my own that I wasn’t told about.”  Cassi has truly been a blessing to my family, and through her, I have not only learned a lot about toddlers, but I have learned a lot about kinship placements as well.

This brochure will be available on TYLA’s website and in print as well.  Feel free to contact me at sgiddings@smithrose.com for more information.