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Subsidized Guardianship

Subsidized guardianships provide financial assistance to caretakers who assume legal guardianship of a child from out-of-home care. A number of States are experimenting with subsidized guardianship to achieve permanency for children and youth who are not being adopted or reunited with family. Resources include State and local examples.

Expanding Permanency Options for Children: A Guide to Subsidized Guardianship Programs (PDF - 697 KB)
Children's Defense Fund (2003)
Surveyed States with guardianship programs to identify policies, child eligibility requirements, caregiver considerations, State agency considerations, and payment levels.

States' Subsidized Guardianship Laws at a Glance (PDF - 203 KB)
Children's Defense Fund (2004)
State-by-State look at subsidized guardianship programs, including which children and caregivers are eligible and the types of assistance available.

Synthesis of Findings from the State Assisted Guardianship Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Projects
Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005)
Reviews evaluation reports submitted by States that received Title IV-E waivers to implement assisted guardianship demonstration projects: Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oregon.

Using Subsidized Guardianship to Improve Outcomes for Children: Key Questions to Consider (PDF - 696 KB)
Children's Defense Fund (2004)
Explores the design and benefits of subsidized guardianship programs for children who have been neglected or abused.

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State and local examples

"Preventive" Subsidized Guardianship Programs: An Emerging Option for Permanent Kinship Care (PDF - 328 KB)
Robinson (2006)
Examines programs in six states (Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio) and the District of Columbia that provide assistance to children who are living with permanent guardians and who may otherwise be at risk of placement in foster care.

Report to the Legislature on the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program (PDF - 200 KB)
California Department of Social Services (2002)
Findings from a multiyear effort in California to create a permanency option for children in appropriate, long-term foster care placements with relatives.

Subsidized Guardianship and Permanency (PDF - 85 KB)
Children and Family Research Center (2004)
Describes outcomes of the federally funded Illinois Subsidized Guardianship Waiver Demonstration program that began in May 1997.

Subsidized Guardianship: Testing the Effectiveness of an Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come (PDF - 245 KB)
Testa (2008)
Presents results from a study examining the effectiveness of subsidized guardianship programs in Tennessee and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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	Information Gateway Library Search Includes publications from 2000 to present Subsidized guardianship

Updated on March 1, 2010