There are thousands of children in the commonwealth being raised by grandparents or other family members---while they are stepping up to care for these children—many of them say the state is falling short in providing the resources they need to be successful in caring for them. In a three part series we explore the topic of kinship care in Kentucky. 

"I was talking with a grandma who was saying she was going to have to sell her car—because she bought a new car before the kids came in and the car payments are just too much because they don’t have access to other supports to help raise the children," said Shannon Moody, Policy Director at Kentucky Youth Advocates. "So you are having people make really tough decisions whether that’s leaving  a job, selling a car, sometimes selling a house. I’ve heard of that happening. Who shouldn’t have to make those decisions because they are stepping up to raise their families and should have access in the same way we give supports to other people who step and raise children in that situation." 

The number of children being cared for by family members is increasing. In 2013, there was around 56,000 children being cared for by relatives--that number now is 96,000, or about 9 percent of the child population in Kentucky. 

There are several reasons for that growth--with the two highest being the high turnover of social workers at Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) and the increasing opioid epidemic plaguing Kentucky. 

"When you got brand new staff and they are unsure about the safety of a child, they are more likely to remove that child," said Moody. 

As the number continues to increase, the resources for family caregivers seem to be decreasing. In 2013, under the Steve Beshear Administration a moratorium was placed on payments given to families who provide kinship care. While some families are still receiving those payments, the number is rapidly going down. 

"This created kind of this grand swell of confusion and frustration on the part of relatives who continued to step up and raise children who are removed from DCBS who did not have access to the same supports," Moody explained. "After some time and some changes, we have some kinship caregivers get access to childcare assistance programs. They've always had access to Kentucky only transitional program which is a monthly cash subsidy program. But there is a big lock in the amount of support that kinship caregivers and children in kinship care have access to, compared to those who come into care and then go into foster care with foster parents."

While the kinship care payments were small around $300 dollars a month per child--and limited--only going to children who had been under state custody--it helped provide those families with enough to get by. Despite the troubles caregivers face--for the child it's usually best to be with their families. 

“With reduced disruption, with a reduction in the amount of placements that child has, they are able to reduce education distributions. So reduced trauma, reduced disruptions, also reduced number of moves in the education system-- all end up being positive for the child who is going through a traumatic time," said Moody. "So, there are a lot of challenges with kinship care, not having access to appropriate supports but also the child themselves is still going to be better off.”

The confusion was made worse after a federal lawsuit, DO v. Glisson came down in October 2017. The ruling said that the state must provide payments to certain families caring for children. But DCBS was slow in getting the information out to the families  who fits the criteria. More than 23,000 families have applied to receive these payments, and under 2,000 have actually received them. 

"You had a lot of kinship caregivers who were really hopeful that it was going to broader and apply to many more of them," said Moody. "It’s confusion, it’s frustration and then just a lack of communications between the cabinet and the people affected by it.”

This confusion may be costing families who may qualify for payments. 

"There’s a potential that there were caregivers that just missed out and there is potential that there are kinship caregivers who this applies to and they just have no idea.," said Moody. 

The ruling only applied to children who had been under state care before being placed with families. 

“What we are finding out is it is not typical for the cabinet to retain custody or get custody before they place them with a relative," Moody explained. "A lot of these placements are done under prevention plans."

While many kinship caregivers think they have no where to turn to--Kentucky Youth Advocates say there are still some resources available. 

To begin with, Moody says to call the Kinship Care Hotline.

"This hotline is for essentially for kinship caregivers who have had kids come into their care, and they call and get access to different supports within DCBS," she explains. 

One of those resources is childcare assistance. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services will provide free childcare for up to 12 months for relative caregivers with children under 12. They will not have to meet an income eligibility during that 12 month period. 

Grandparents can also reach out to their area development districts to receive access to national and Kentucky caregiver programs that provide stipends to grandparents over the age of 55 who have custody of their grandchildren. This is only available for grandparents who are not receiving payments from the kinship care program. 

Moody also recommends reaching out and finding support groups.

"Support groups are a huge benefit to kinship caregivers because it gives them a chance to just talk, and express what's going on with them," Moody said. "And provides a space for them to feel normal in their situation and helps them navigate within their community."

In part two of the series, we look at grandparents struggling to navigate the system while caring for their grandchildren.