Policy & Practice June 2018

Figure 2: Guardianship Funding Sources

their federal guardianship assistance programs in the following ways: 3 � Eligibility criteria for guardianship, including the child’s maximum eligible age; the child’s age of input into the guardianship decision; and whether the state will allow fictive kin to serve as guardians � Amount and types of financial support to families, including the maximum allowable monthly subsidy � Post-guardianship management, including periodic guardianship eli- gibility reviews � Parental rights and responsibilities, including whether parental rights are explicitly noted; whether child support requirements are stated; and whether family reunification is explicitly noted in state statutes and administrative codes States vary widely in their monthly subsidy of guardianship programs, with the maximum rate reaching as high as $1,360 per month (the rates are informed by the states’ basic foster care rate). States that choose to draw down Title IV-E GAP funds for their guard- ianship assistance programs report that they do so because: (a) it is the best option for children who cannot be adopted or reunified with their parents; (b) federal funding supports state programs; or, (c) federally subsi- dized guardianship allows additional funding to be used to help move identified populations of children to permanency more quickly.

DC

Mostly TANF Funds No Funded Guardianship Program Missing Data

State Funds IV-E GAP Funds

IV-E GAP Funds and State Funds

Factors that Hinder Guardianship Program Implementation States that decline to draw down Title IV-E GAP to support guardian- ship assistance, and instead use state or TANF funds, or do not have a guardianship assistance program, report several reasons for doing so. These include: (a) guardians

and children in the state will not meet Title IV-E eligibility criteria, particularly foster care licensure requirements of Title IV-E GAP; (b) funding and resources to implement Title IV-E GAP are lacking; and/or (c) guardianship is not considered a per- manent placement option for children.

See Guardianship on page 30