Also, a state and national (with the FBI) criminal history check for a proposed guardian, or any other person age 18 or over who is currently residing in the home, is required. KinGAP requires that agencies must check with the New York State Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register (and other states’ comparable registries if adults in the home lived in any other states in the last five years) to determine whether the proposed guardian, or any person age 18 or over who resides in the home, has previously abused or maltreated a child. The legal process from application to finalization can be considerably shorter than freeing a child and legalizing an adoption. The foster child’s caseworker will be working with the child’s birth family and prospective guardian to explore other permanency options or determine that there are compelling reasons for the child not to return home or be adopted.īecause, as stated above, the child’s parental rights need not be terminated to achieve KinGAP. However, both “return home” and “adoption” must be ruled out as permanency options for the child.

The foster child does not have to be free for adoption in order for KinGAP to be provided. The child must consent if age 18 or over. If age appropriate, younger children should be consulted as well. The child must be consulted if age 14 or over. The foster child must have a strong attachment to the prospective guardian. A KinGAP family must have a strong commitment to caring for the child on a permanent basis. Families can vary by age, income, lifestyle, and marital status.

The family may have birth children, adoptive children, or no other children. The family can have a single parent or two parents. an adult with a positive relationship to the child that was established prior to the child’s current foster care placement.related to a half sibling of the child by blood, marriage or adoption (to any degree of affinity) and is also seeking to become, or is, the guardian of such half sibling through KinGAP, or.related to the child by blood, marriage or adoption, and the relationship can be to any degree of affinity, or.In addition to being the child’s foster parent for at least six months, the prospective guardian must be The level of financial support is similar to the maintenance payments received while the child was in foster care. This program provides financial support and in most cases medical coverage for the child, beginning with the child’s discharge from foster care to the guardian. The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP) is designed for a foster child to achieve a permanent placement with a committed adult who had been the child’s foster parent for at least six months.

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