Those relatives who step in to care for the children, and keep them out of the formal foster care system, they’re not only doing the right thing for kids — by reducing trauma and keeping them with family, they’re also saving taxpayers $4 billion each year by keeping kids out of foster care.

Peterson Lent

Categorized in : Health

As a result of that law, we are seeing that relatives are also being identified and reached out to more regularly, not every child welfare agency is doing that in the way that they should be, but we’ve certainly seen progress.

There is a real need for more supports and services, and also more information about the existing supports and services that are available to grandparents and other relatives.

That means that they are going to have access to much less support and services — and certainly less financial support — than if they become a licensed foster parent.

The research is really pretty clear that you should prioritize re... by Peterson Lent

The research is really pretty clear that you should prioritize relatives for children when you can.

As we see the uptick in foster care placements with the opioid ep... by Peterson Lent

As we see the uptick in foster care placements with the opioid epidemic.

We need to turn child welfare financing on its head so that states can use some dollars for proven programs that help prevent that tragedy, that help prevent a need for children to enter foster care.

They were not planning for this, they may have gotten a call in the middle of the night saying ‘Take this child or they’re going to end up in foster care.’.

We find that often the children are the priority, if the grandparent has a doctor’s appointment but something comes up with the child, they’re often going to neglect their own health needs and prioritize the needs of the children.