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Love will never reject others. It is the first to encourage and the last to condemn. |
Kinship
More About Minnesota’s Stand-by Guardianship Law This law was originally designed to allow a terminally ill parent or parent in a complex life situation to designate a standby guardian to take over the day to day care of a child in the event of a triggering event, such as incapacity, without the parents' rights being terminated. In April 2000, a new "standby and alternate custodies" law went into effect in Minnesota, which can be found in MN Statutes, chapter 257B. Minnesota’s law is particularly exciting because it not only allows for the designation of standby guardians, but also for the designation of temporary custodians, co-custodians and alternate standby custodians. This new law replaces Minnesota’s prior "designated caregiver" law, which allowed a parent to designate an adult to care for a child for a period not to exceed one year (and with one, one year renewal possible) in the event of the parent’s incapacitation. The designation was effective for four years. The new law does not have any time limits, but, as with the prior law, the parent can revoke the designation of a caregiver at any time. The parent signs a form, along with the persons designated, which sets forth a temporary custodian, standby custodian and/or alternate standby custodian in the event of a triggering event(s). The triggering event must be specified and can include incapacitation, debilitation or death. Also, more than one standby custodian can be designated for different triggering events. In other words, one caregiver could be designed standby custodian in the event of the parent’s incapacitation and another could be the standby custodian in the event of the parent’s death. Moreover, if the parent dies, the standby custodian is appointed guardian for the child without the need for a separate court petition. The new law also allows for the designation of a "temporary custodian" for up to twenty four months. Co-custodians can also be named, which means a standby custodian who acts as a custodian along with the parents and shares physical or legal custody of the children, or both, due to the occurrence of a triggering event. Open Adoption These laws allow the parties to enter into an enforceable agreement that sets forth terms (type, frequency and duration) for post-adoption contact. Minnesota’s Open Adoption Laws can be found at MN Stat. 259.58 Throughout our country's history, grandparents and other relatives have proven to be the last line of defense in keeping children from entering the foster care system. Their efforts epitomize family responsibility. Across the country, more than six million children -- approximately 1 in 12 children -- are living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. Minnesota has nearly 48,000 children living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. In many of these households, grandparents and other relatives are the primary caregivers (kinship caregivers) for children whose parents cannot or will not care for them due to substance abuse, illness and death, abuse and neglect, economic hardship, incarceration, divorce, domestic violence, and other family and community crises. In response to the growing numbers of these kinship care families, state legislatures, public and private agencies, and grassroots coalitions in Minnesota and across the country have begun to expand services and supports for children living with kin inside and outside of the foster care system. A Look at the Numbers: Kinship Care in Minnesota The data below show the numbers of grandparents who are living in households with at least one grandchild under the age of 18, as well as the numbers of grandparents who are the primary caregivers for these grandchildren. These numbers were reported by the 2000 U.S. Census and are available for every place (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau) in the country, including cities, towns, villages, and boroughs, on the U.S. Census website.* Kinship Care Initiatives in Minnesota In Minnesota, public and private agencies and grassroots coalitions of grandparents and other relative caregivers have begun working together to expand the services available to kinship caregivers who are caring for children outside of the foster care system. Several of the major kinship care programs and supports are listed below. Additional support groups can be found through the AARP Grandparent Information Center Database. Call 1-800-424-3410, e-mail information requests to gic@aarp.org or search AARP's online kinship care support group database at www.aarp.org/grandparents/searchsupport/ Additional state and national kinship care resources and supports are available at
Two websites coordinated by grandparents raising grandchildren.
Education, Advocacy, Information, and Referrals:
Kinship Care and Minnesota’s Foster Care System Sometimes children in the care of the states are placed in foster care with grandparents or other relatives. In Minnesota, the Department of Human Services, Children’s Services, Foster Care Division reports:
As of December 31, 2000, there were 8,109 Minnesota children in out-of-home placements under the Department’s supervision. Of these children, 1,540 (19%) were placed with kin.
Relative Custody Assistance: In addition to foster care payments and other benefits available to kin raising children in the foster care system, some states also have subsidized guardianship programs. Minnesota has a Relative Custody Assistance program that provides an ongoing permanency assistance payment to eligible children in the foster care system whose relative caregivers become their legal guardians. Adoption or a return to the child’s parent must have been ruled out before a child can be eligible for this program. (Minn. Stat ß 257.85). Contact: Laurie Ruhl, Program Advisor for Adoption Assistance and Relative Custody Assistance, at (651) 297-3636 or laurie.ruhl@state.mn.us State foster care contact: Questions about kin foster care placements should be directed to Deborah Beske-Brown, Department of Human Services, Family and Children’s Services Division, at (651) 296-4309 or Deborah.beske.brown@state.mn.us Other Supports for Minnesota Kinship Care Families Children raised by kinship caregivers are often eligible for a range of state and federal programs. In most cases, kinship caregivers may apply for these programs on a child’s behalf even though they are not the child’s parents or legal guardians. Some examples of these programs include:
State Laws and Policies Sometimes kinship caregivers find it difficult to obtain services their children need, such as medical care or education. In addition to the state's child guardianship and custody laws, the following laws may be helpful to kinship caregivers1:
Questions about this fact sheet or recommendations for additions to future versions should be submitted to Cara Goldstein, Generations United, at (202) 638-1263 or mbissell@childrensdefense.org or cgoldstein@gu.org. Laws change and are subject to different interpretations. These general descriptions are not intended as legal advice in any particular situation. Factors that account for increase in Numbers of Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children:
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*These data are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Table DP-2. Profile Selected Social Characteristics: 2000. The U.S. Census website is http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet. Detailed instructions on how to access this data can be found at http://www.casey.org/cnc/state_contacts/kinship_care_state_fact_sheets.htm |
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Foster and Adoptive Care Association
of Minnesota |
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