(The Center Square) – A bill making it easier for a child’s relative to become their foster parent is now law in Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed the Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act into law, which will allow the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) more flexibility in certifying grandparents and other relatives as foster parents.
“The KIND Act enhances family finding efforts to ensure we are doing everything we can to identify relatives who can care for and maintain ongoing, supportive connections with our youth,” said Pritzker. “Just as importantly, it holds us accountable to incorporate the voices of youth and families in decisions that have a lasting impact on their lives.”
In 2023, the federal government implemented changes to allow states to use a different set of standards for relatives of children in foster care than those for certified foster parents in an effort to keep more children with relatives.
“We know that placing youth in the child welfare system with relatives lessens the trauma associated with family separation, reduces the number of times a child is moved, enhances permanency options if youth cannot be reunified and results in higher placement satisfaction for youth in care, and delivers better social, behavioral, mental health and educational outcomes for youth than when they are placed in non-kin foster care,” said Nora Collins-Mandeville, director of systems reform policy with the ACLU of Illinois.
Today, 9,300 children and youth in DCFS are living with relatives and many do not receive the same benefits as licensed foster caregivers due to outdated requirements. Relative caregivers are typically extended family members, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, responsible for the supervision of the child or youth. The KIND Act also makes sure related foster parents would get the same financial benefits as traditional licensed foster caregivers.
“The KIND Act recognizes the significant role that families and communities play in the lives of children and youth and helps to equalize the cost of raising a child,” said DCFS director Heidi Mueller.
DCFS is currently drafting rules outlining the standards for relative caregiver homes and will adopt them in the coming months.
