New Kinship Act Mandates Support for Relatives Raising Kids, Shortens Waiting Time for Financial Aid to 3 Months

This bill, titled the Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act, is designed to overhaul how the child welfare system handles kids who can’t safely remain with their parents. Simply put, it mandates that states prioritize and financially support placing children with relatives or close family friends—known as kinship care—before resorting to traditional foster care.

The core idea is to stabilize the child welfare system by focusing on family connections. The bill requires states to actively and continuously search for relatives or “fictive kin” (people who are like family) throughout a child’s case planning (SEC. 3). For families juggling work and caregiving, this means that if a child needs to be removed, the state must immediately look for a grandparent, aunt, or close family friend to step up, rather than defaulting to a stranger’s home. This shift is huge, recognizing that keeping kids connected to family is the best shot at long-term stability.

The Kinship Safety Net Gets Stronger

One of the biggest hurdles for relatives taking in a child is the sudden financial strain. This Act tackles that head-on in two major ways. First, it makes the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP) mandatory for all states, ending the current system where participation is optional (SEC. 6). KinGAP provides financial support to relative guardians, making it sustainable for them to care for a child long-term. Even better, the bill shortens the residency requirement for this assistance from six consecutive months to just three (SEC. 6).

Second, the bill creates a new federal funding category for “Kinship placement support services” (SEC. 8). This allows states to use federal money for crisis stabilization, including direct cash payments to relatives via a “kinship placement crisis stabilization fund.” Imagine a grandmother suddenly taking in her three grandkids: this fund could provide immediate cash for new beds, clothes, or utility bills, preventing the child from entering the formal foster care system in the first place. This is a crucial practical support for working families.

Removing Roadblocks for Caregivers

The bill also cleans up some outdated rules that have historically blocked suitable relatives from stepping up. For instance, it prohibits states from automatically denying a kinship placement just because the relative is older (SEC. 5). If you’re a grandparent who is 70 and otherwise fit to care for your grandchild, the state can no longer use your age as the sole reason to say no. The focus must remain on the child’s best interest and the caregiver’s ability to provide a safe home.

Furthermore, the bill modernizes the rules for foster care maintenance payments by finally eliminating the outdated Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) eligibility requirement (SEC. 7). This means that if a child is placed in a foster family home—including a relative’s home who is licensed as a foster parent—the state can no longer deny payments based on an irrelevant 1990s-era financial test. This streamlines payments and ensures financial support reaches the child, regardless of old bureaucratic hurdles.

Increased Scrutiny on State Decisions

While the bill focuses on support, it also adds accountability for state agencies. If a state decides to deny placing a child with a relative or “fictive kin,” or if they decide to move a child who is already successfully living with a relative, they must now document that decision with “clear and convincing evidence” that the placement poses a safety risk or harms the child’s welfare (SEC. 3). This high bar means states can't just rely on vague reasons; they need solid proof.

On the one hand, this protects relatives from arbitrary denials. On the other hand, the bill allows states to use alternative criminal background checks for kinship caregivers, provided they justify the alternative to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (SEC. 4). While this offers flexibility, it creates variability, meaning the level of safety screening might differ depending on which state you live in. For busy parents, this means the rules for who can care for a child might not be uniform across state lines, even as the push for family placement increases.