Better Homes for Children

More homes are needed for abused or neglected children. While some grandparents, aunts or uncles or other relatives would like to take them in, members of extended families often cannot afford the cost of raising additional children. The children must then be placed in foster homes or expensive county care facilities.

California Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos) has sponsored a bill that would give families caught in this dilemma a better chance to stay together. AB 1221 would entitle low- and middle-income relatives to the same state foster-care benefits that are now given to strangers. Forty other states have enacted similar programs.

Although the problem appears to be straightforward, it is not. Poverty-level families, whether relatives or not, are entitled to federal foster-care benefits. But relatives with incomes above poverty level, though not far enough above to meet the costs associated with rearing children, are not entitled to foster-care support of any kind.

Depending on the income level of a child’s natural parents, some families are entitled to Aid to Families With Dependent Children, which is about the same as foster-care support when only one child is involved. But, unlike the state foster-care program, AFDC progressively decreases with additional children. For instance, a family with one child would receive $303 under the AFDC program or a foster-care subsidy of $294 to $412, depending on the child’s age. But a family with four children would receive AFDC of $734 per month or $1,176 to $1,648 under the foster-care program.

Some who are opposed to the bill say that family members have an obligation to support these children whether the state helps or not. That is true. But many are in the category of the working poor, and simply cannot afford the additional financial responsibility. The bill sets a maximum income level that is appropriate. For example, a family of two could not earn more than $18,396, or a family of four more than $27,108, and still qualify for the foster-care program.

Another concern is that parents will foist children off on family members who will then be reimbursed for the children’s care. But the Children’s Lobby, which strongly supports the bill, says that this is unlikely because these children are already being monitored by the court system and the California Department of Social Services.

The projected cost of the bill is unknown. The state Department of Finance has estimated that if every child was placed with relatives under this revised foster-care program, the cost would be $50 million to $60 million. Yet legislative analysts estimate the cost to be closer to $38 million. But no one actually knows how many of the 41,000 California children currently under court-ordered placement have families willing to accept this responsibility.

The social gains of keeping brothers and sisters together within their extended families are vast. The Children’s Lobby says that a survey of California social workers indicates that whenever possible they recommend this type of placement.

AB 1221 has been approved by the Assembly, and now deserves the approval of both the state Senate and the governor.