Resources

• Guardianship: A Web-based Primer
  Guardianship is an extremely important area of child welfare policy and practice, and is huge in scope. Rather than attempting to address all guardianship issues in this document, in this new online resource, NRCPFC strategically presents an overview of the salient issues. It is intended as an online tool for programs, states and tribes where promising practices, programs and resources are made available. For this primer, NRCPFC thoroughly reviewed provisions in the legislation that address guardianship. Our goal is to provide the field with information on the components that support guardianship. This primer provides a broad array of resources from research, state policies, procedures and practice and includes an organizational self-study guide. 
  
  
• BRYCS Guardianship Toolkit
  These resources from BRYCS (Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services) are for those assisting refugee families who are caring for non-biological children (such as grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, siblings, or friends). Overseas, these children are typically referred to as “separated children,” while in the U.S. Refugee Program, they are typically referred to as “attached refugee minors.” In the U.S. legal and child welfare fields, these caregivers are often referred to as “relative caregivers” or families with “kinship care” arrangements. The toolkit includes: Guardianship Fact Sheet for Staff Assisting Refugee Families; Legal Guardianship for Refugee Children Living in the U.S. with Relatives; List of Highlighted Resources on Guardianship; Searchable   Directory. The searchable directory provides basic information about procedures for establishing guardianship in each state.
  
  
• Standby Guardianship
  This publication examines State standby guardianship laws in which a parent may transfer guardianship of his or her child to a specific person under certain conditions. Many States developed these laws specifically to address the needs of parents living with HIV/AIDS, other disabling conditions, or terminal illnesses who want to plan a legally secure future for their children. A standby guardianship differs from traditional guardianships in that the parent retains much of his or her authority over the child. This publication is a product of the State Statutes Series prepared by Child Welfare Information Gateway. (Current through July 2011)
  

• All Children Deserve a Permanent Home: Subsidized Guardianship as a Common Sense Solution for Children in Long-Term Relative Foster Care
  This report from Generations United provides state-by-state data on the number of children living in foster care with relative caregivers. Also available in Spanish.

• Strengthening Families Through Guardianship
  This issue brief from Kids Are Waiting discusses the importance of subsidized guardianship programs.

• Fact Sheets on Guardianship
  The National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center has several fact sheets about guardianship, including subsidized, joint, and standby guardianship.

• Finding Permanent Homes for Foster Children: Issues Raised by Kinship Care
  This brief from the Urban Institute examines how local child welfare agencies approach permanency planning with children in kinship foster care and why kinship foster parents may be reluctant to adopt or take legal guardianship of relative children in their care. Kinship care has a far-reaching impact on child welfare agencies' permanency planning efforts and the permanency outcomes of foster children.
  
  
• Fostering Connections Kinship Toolkit
  The Fostering Connections Resource Center’s Kinship Network, led by the Children's Defense Fund and Child Focus, has developed a Fostering Connections Kinship Tool Kit that includes several resources designed to assist states that are still considering whether to apply for GAP funding and how to make the case for the investment. The toolkit also includes resources to help states implement the GAP option and identification and notice requirements and answer questions regarding all of the provisions that will affect children being raised by grandparents and other relatives. (2010)
  

Resources from the States

• Iowa: Introducing the Iowa Subsidized Guardianship Waiver Program
  This brochure was developed to help prospective guardian families, judges, attorneys, case workers, and other interested parties, to understand the subsidized guardianship waiver program in Iowa. It is to be given out at the time when the caseworker meets with the prospective guardian of a child assigned to the experimental group and upon request from interested parties.
  
  
• New Mexico: Away from Home: Children and Youth Living Apart from their Parents - Guardianship and Other Options for Family and Friends Caring for Children and Youth
  The New Mexico Guardianship Project of Advocacy Inc. and the New Mexico Court Improvement Project Task Force have produced a booklet describing options and procedures for obtaining legal authority and providing care to children. Information is provided to caregivers and others on kinship guardianship; the State's Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit; Power of Attorney; foster care; and adoption. A succinct description is provided of each option, as well as a brief listing of government benefits and additional sources for information and support. Away from Home: Children and Youth Living Apart from their Parents - Guardianship and Other Options for Family and Friends Caring for Children and Youth is available online from Shaening and Associates.
  

Teleconference

• Permanency through Guardianship: Formulas for Successful Programs
  On January 25, 2005 the NRCPFC and CWLA hosted a teleconference for state foster care and adoption managers. To listen to the audio files, visit our archived teleconferences page.

  These PowerPoint presentations were provided to participants:

  • Subsidized Guardianship: A National Perspective
    Presentation by Jennifer Miller, Cornerstone Consulting

  • Family Ties: Supporting Permanence for Children in Safe and Stable Foster Care with Relatives and Other Caregivers
    Presentation by Mark Testa, Children and Family Research Center