S. Res. 398 — Designating September 2021 as National Kinship Care Month
Summary
S. Res. 398 is a resolution submitted in the Senate on September 30, 2021, by Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Brown) designating September 2021 as National Kinship Care Month. Its recitals state that nationally 2,800,000 children are living in kinship care with grandparents, other relatives, and family friends. The resolution urges all States to expand their support of kinship care and their use of kinship foster care. It also honors the commitment and dedication of kinship caregivers and the advocates and allies who provide assistance and services to kinship caregiving families.
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Cite this document
“S. Res. 398 — Designating September 2021 as National Kinship Care Month.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/bills-bills-117sres398is-bills-117sres398is/
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III
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. RES. 398
Designating September 2021 as ‘‘National Kinship Care Month’’.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. BROWN) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to
RESOLUTION
Designating September 2021 as ‘‘National Kinship Care
Month’’.
Whereas in September 2021, ‘‘National Kinship Care Month’’
is observed;
Whereas nationally, 2,800,000 children are living in kinship
care with grandparents, other relatives, and family
friends (‘‘fictive kin’’);
Whereas, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on
Child and Family Statistics, in 2019, 1,700,000 children
were cared for by grandparents, 651,000 by other rel-
atives, and 481,000 by nonrelatives who are not foster
parents;
Whereas nationally, nearly 1⁄3 of all foster care placements
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are in kinship foster care, with more than 133,000 chil-
dren placed in kinship foster care;
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Whereas more than 2,600,000 children live in informal kin-
ship care outside of the foster care system;
Whereas ‘‘kinship’’ is the term used to describe the relation-
ship between children and nonparent relative caregivers
in recent Federal enactments of law, including in the
Consolidated Appropriations Acts enacted for each of fis-
cal years 2018 through 2021, in the COVID–19 response
provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,
and in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021;
Whereas in over 40 States, more than 300 State statutes
that use the term ‘‘kinship’’ and there are more than 15
references to that term in the Federal child welfare laws
contained in title 42 of the United States Code;
Whereas while kinship care is the most common term for rel-
ative caregivers of children, they are sometimes also re-
ferred to as kincaregivers or grandfamilies;
Whereas federally funded kinship navigator programs and
kinship guardian programs operate in over 40 States;
Whereas the number of children placed in foster care con-
tinues to increase due in part to the opioid crisis, and
child welfare agencies are increasingly reliant on grand-
parents and other kinship caregivers;
Whereas, during the COVID–19 pandemic, kinship care-
givers, who are often grandparents with health vulnera-
bilities, are parenting children in their homes, often with
limited support;
Whereas kinship or relative care can be a critical tool in ad-
dressing disproportionality;
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Whereas African-American and Hispanic children are more
likely to be placed in kinship care (32 percent and 48
percent, respectively), than are White children (27 per-
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cent) and past evidence, such as reports and testimony
to Congress by the Government Accountability Office and
other research, suggests that kinship care is an impor-
tant practice in reducing disproportionality;
Whereas kinship caregivers residing in urban, rural, and sub-
urban households in every State and territory of the
United States have stepped forward out of love and loy-
alty to care for children during times in which parents
are unable to do so;
Whereas kinship caregivers provide safety, promote well-
being, and establish stable households for vulnerable chil-
dren;
Whereas kinship care homes offer a refuge for traumatized
children;
Whereas kinship care enables a child to maintain family rela-
tionships and cultural heritage and remain in the commu-
nity of the child;
Whereas the wisdom and compassion of kinship caregivers is
a source of self-reliance and strength for countless chil-
dren and for the entire United States;
Whereas children in kinship care experience improved place-
ment stability, higher levels of permanency, and de-
creased behavioral problems;
Whereas kinship caregivers face daunting challenges to keep
children from entering foster care;
Whereas, because of parental substance use disorders and
other adverse childhood experiences, children in kinship
care frequently have trauma-related conditions;
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Whereas many kinship caregivers give up their retirement
years to assume parenting duties for children;
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Whereas the Senate wishes to honor the many kinship care-
givers who throughout the history of the United States
have provided loving homes for children;
Whereas the first President of the United States, George
Washington, and his wife Martha were themselves kin-
ship caregivers, as were many other great people of the
United States;
Whereas the Senate is proud to recognize the many kinship
care families in which a child is raised by grandparents,
other relatives, or fictive kin;
Whereas National Kinship Care Month provides an oppor-
tunity to urge people in every State to join in recognizing
and celebrating kinship caregiving families and the tradi-
tion of families in the United States to help kin;
Whereas, in 2018, Congress provided for kinship navigator
programs and services in the Family First Prevention
Services Act enacted under title VII of division E of the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the Consolidated Ap-
propriations Act, 2018;
Whereas, in 2018, Congress provided for the formation of the
Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren to examine supports for grandparents and
other kinship caregivers in the Supporting Grandparents
Raising Grandchildren Act;
Whereas, since 2018, Congress has continued to support kin-
ship families by renewing funding for kinship navigators
in the Consolidated Appropriations Acts, enacted for each
of fiscal years 2018 through 2021, providing flexibility
for how such funds may be used in the COVID–19 re-
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sponse provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021, and implementing the National Technical Assist-
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ance Center on Kinship and Grandfamilies in the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan Act of 2021; and
Whereas more remains to be done to support kinship
caregiving and to ensure that all children have a safe,
loving, nurturing, and permanent family, regardless of
age or special needs: Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That the Senate—
2 (1) designates September 2021 as ‘‘National
3 Kinship Care Month’’;
4 (2) encourages Congress, States, local govern-
5 ments, and community organizations to continue to
6 work to improve the lives of vulnerable children and
7 families and to support the communities working to-
8 gether to lift them up;
9 (3) urges all States to expand their support of
10 kinship care and their use of kinship foster care: and
11 (4) honors the commitment and dedication of
12 kinship caregivers and the advocates and allies who
13 work tirelessly to provide assistance and services to
14 kinship caregiving families.
Æ
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