[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 694 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 694

Expressing support for the designation of September 2023 as ``National 
                         Kinship Care Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2023

Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. 
   Mace, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Ms. Brown, and Mr. Davis of 
Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing support for the designation of September 2023 as ``National 
                         Kinship Care Month''.

Whereas, in September 2023, ``National Kinship Care Month'' is observed;
Whereas kinship care is the full-time care, nurturing, and protection of 
        children by grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
        stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who have a family relationship to 
        the over 2,800,000 children living in a kinship care arrangement;
Whereas death, incarceration, disability, parental substance use, military 
        deployment, and incarceration are a few reasons causing grandparents, 
        siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin 
        caregivers to step forward to raise children they did not expect nor 
        plan to raise;
Whereas nearly one-third (31 percent) of all children in out-of-home care in the 
        United States are placed with relatives without a parent in the home, 
        and there is considerable variation in that percentage across States, 
        ranging from a low of 5 percent to a high of 46 percent in kinship care;
Whereas, nationally, more than 133,405 children in foster care are formally 
        placed in kinship foster care and more than 2,667,000 additional 
        children are supported by kin caregivers outside of the foster care 
        system in informal kinship arrangements;
Whereas because there are approximately 20 children in informal kinship care 
        arrangements for every 1 child in formal foster kinship care, 
        grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or 
        fictive kin caregivers keep the foster care system from being 
        overwhelmed and save taxpayers more than $4,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas kinship families comprised of grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, 
        stepparents, or fictive kin are not provided the same level of 
        assistance and support as children placed in nonrelative or nonkin 
        foster care;
Whereas COVID-19 both heightened the challenges for existing kinship caregivers 
        and created new kinship caregivers due to parents dying or becoming 
        disabled due to the virus leaving behind children who have been taken in 
        by their kinship families;
Whereas Black children make up 14 percent of all children in the United States 
        but comprise over 25 percent of all children raised by grandparents and 
        23 percent of all children in foster care;
Whereas American Indian/Alaska Native children make up 1 percent of all children 
        in the United States but comprise over 8 percent of all children raised 
        by grandparents and 2 percent of all children in foster care;
Whereas kinship care enables children--

    (1) to maintain family relationships and family heritage;

    (2) to remain in their community; and

    (3) to thrive;

Whereas research shows that living with relatives and fictive kin benefits 
        children in a number of ways including--

    (1) kinship care minimizes trauma;

    (2) kinship placements improve behavioral and mental health outcomes;

    (3) kinship care promotes sibling and other family ties;

    (4) kinship families provide higher levels of permanency; and

    (5) kinship care reduces the risk of homelessness and criminal 
involvement by providing an important and emotionally sustaining bridge for 
older youth;

Whereas kinship caregivers report tremendous satisfaction in caring for and 
        raising children but face substantial challenges in accessing resources 
        they need to care for their families, to avoid living in poverty, and to 
        prevent children from entering foster care;
Whereas much remains to be done to ensure that all children have a safe, loving, 
        nurturing, and permanent family, regardless of age or special needs;
Whereas there are Federal child welfare laws recognizing kinship care, and more 
        than 40 States and the District of Columbia have over 300 laws related 
        to kinship caregiving, making it clear that kinship care is acknowledged 
        as the nationally accepted term for grandparents, siblings, members of 
        Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who are 
        successfully caring for and raising children;
Whereas over 40 States are implementing kinship navigator programs and services 
        that support grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
        stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who are not foster parents;
Whereas the House of Representatives is proud to recognize the many kinship 
        families in which children are raised by grandparents, siblings, members 
        of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers;
Whereas the House of Representatives wishes to honor the many grandparents, 
        siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, and fictive kin 
        caregivers who throughout the history of the United States have provided 
        loving homes for children to thrive;
Whereas National Kinship Care Month provides an opportunity to urge people in 
        every State to join in recognizing and celebrating kinship families and 
        the tradition of grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 
        stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers in the United States helping 
        raise children; and
Whereas States are increasingly relying on grandparents, siblings, members of 
        Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers as foster 
        parents, and are working to increase the percentages of children in 
        supported kinship foster families: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of ``National Kinship Care 
        Month'';
            (2) encourages the Congress to enact policies to improve 
        the lives of vulnerable children by supporting kinship families 
        in the best interests of such children;
            (3) honors the commitment and dedication of kinship 
        caregivers and the advocates and allies who work tirelessly to 
        provide assistance and services to kinship-caregiving families; 
        and
            (4) reaffirms the need to continue working to improve the 
        outcomes of all vulnerable children through parts B and E of 
        title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and 
        other programs designed--
                    (A) to support vulnerable families;
                    (B) to invest in prevention and reunification 
                services; and
                    (C) to ensure that grandparents, siblings, members 
                of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin 
                caregivers who take on the role of kinship caregivers 
                receive the necessary supports, including but not 
                limited to Kinship Navigator programs.
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