Kinship care bill expands relative placement

Summary#

SB 1499 is an introduced bill that would amend Pennsylvania’s Domestic Relations and Public Welfare laws; the supplied text does not state a short title. Its stated goal is to support family finding and kinship care, including placement with relatives or kin. It has not become law: it was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  • It would change who counts as a “relative” for these provisions: an adult related to a child’s parent or stepparent by blood, marriage or adoption, with no stated limit on degree of relation.
  • It would require counties to make efforts to notify relatives and certain parents within 30 days after a child is removed from home, with an exception for family or domestic violence.
  • It would set steps and deadlines for temporary kinship placement and later foster-home approval, including background checks, a safety assessment and training.
  • Kin caregivers temporarily approved for placement would receive the same per diem as foster parents from the date of approval. Approved kinship foster parents would be eligible for payments equal to those for non-kin foster parents.
  • It would narrow the list of convictions that automatically bar people from some child-contact jobs or volunteer roles. Other listed offenses and recent felony drug convictions would remain automatic bars.

What it means for you#

  • Children and relatives or kin: A county must place a child immediately with an interested relative or kin once the required expedited checks, brief assessment and home inspection are complete. Temporary placement is not automatic before those steps. The bill would allow any number of children in a temporary kinship home if there is safe, suitable space.
  • Prospective kin caregivers and adults living with them: The bill sets background checks and disqualifying conditions. Some convictions and child-abuse findings within the past five years would bar approval; other convictions would not automatically disqualify someone and could be assessed individually. Prior general protective-services history could not automatically disqualify them.
  • Kin caregivers: Agencies would have to try to provide reasonable help with barriers to placement or approval. Counties would have to make diligent efforts to help kin complete approval within 30 days of placement; approval is due within 60 days, though a county may extend that period. If approval is denied, the agency must document the reasons and give written notice.
  • People seeking some child-contact jobs or volunteer roles: The bill would remove aggravated assault, stalking, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, indecent exposure, concealing a child’s death, certain prostitution offenses and certain obscenity offenses from the specified automatic-ban list. This would not guarantee hiring or approval; other rules and individual decisions may still apply.
  • Families receiving public assistance: Kinship foster-care payments would be excluded when calculating eligibility for public assistance.
  • General public: The bill would not create a new independent agency. The supplied text does not set out an appeal process for a denied kinship approval.

Money#

The bill requires foster-care payments and agency work, but no cost estimate is available in the supplied material.

  • Temporarily approved kin caregivers would receive the same per diem as foster parents from the approval date, regardless of federal reimbursement.
  • Kinship foster parents would be eligible for payments equal to non-kin foster parents’ payments.
  • Agencies would have to make efforts to provide reasonable assistance, which may include buying household safety items. The bill gives no spending limit or cost estimate.

What is unclear#

  • The current versions of the amended laws were not supplied, so I could not verify which rules already apply or fully compare the bill with current law.
  • The bill does not explain how agencies should carry out an individualized assessment, how long decisions may take, or whether a denied caregiver can appeal.
  • It does not define “kin” in the supplied text or explain how counties should decide who qualifies under that term.
  • The bill sets a 60-day approval deadline but also allows a county to extend it; it does not set a limit or further conditions for extensions.
  • No public cost estimate or staffing estimate is provided. The bill would take effect 60 days after enactment, but it has not been enacted.

Case for#

  • The bill appears intended to make it easier to identify relatives and kin and consider them as caregivers for children removed from home.
  • A possible argument for the bill is that required checks and a home assessment can be paired with temporary placement, rather than making full foster-home approval a precondition.
  • Individual review of some convictions could let agencies consider the facts, time passed and rehabilitation instead of automatically rejecting every applicant with those records.
  • Equal payments and practical help could make kin placement more feasible for caregivers.

Case against#

  • One concern is that temporary placement could happen after expedited checks and a brief assessment, before the fuller approval process is complete.
  • The bill leaves important judgment to agencies without specifying detailed decision standards or an appeal process.
  • Required payments and assistance could increase public costs, but the bill provides no estimate or funding limit.
  • The bill requires agencies to notify relatives, but does not explain how they should identify all relatives or resolve questions about who counts as kin.