Kamlager-Dove Reintroduces Legislation to Help Keep Foster Youth with their Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) reintroduced the Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act, legislation that would help keep families together by encouraging kinship guardianship, foster, and adoptive placements for children who cannot be safely cared for in their own homes. Representatives Shontel Brown (OH-11) and Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) joined as original cosponsors.

"It is no surprise that foster children experience improved outcomes when under the care of relatives," said Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove. "We can—and must—prioritize these existing relationships while also ensuring safe care. I am proud to reintroduce the Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act, legislation that would improve outcomes for foster children by removing troublesome barriers to kinship guardianship, foster, and adoptive placements. All children deserve stable environments where they can learn, grow, and thrive—by encouraging kinship placements, we are setting foster youth up on a strong path for success."
 
"iFoster strongly supports Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove's three bills that strengthen our foster care system by recognizing and supporting kinship caregivers, and her bills that support our country's most vulnerable youth—those aging out of foster care—by providing them with the educational opportunities and support they need to succeed," said Serita Cox, CEO and co-founder, iFoster.

"We fully support the Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act. As a community who have experienced the foster care system, we know how vital it is to maintain connections with our culture, traditions, and family values. This legislation will help ensure that children who need safe and secure homes can stay with relatives who provide stability and love. By addressing barriers and offering support to kinship caregivers, this act will make a real difference in our lives. This is a crucial first step toward giving more children the chance to grow up in a protected, supportive family environment," said the National Foster Youth Institute's 2024 Congressional Leadership Academy Cohort.

The Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act would:

• Encourage kinship placements by requiring state plans for child welfare to provide for the diligent recruitment of relatives and family-like figures;
• Require state plans for foster care and adoption assistance to require and document efforts to identify and locate relatives or fictive kin;
• For children in kinship placements, prioritize keeping them there unless it's against their well-being or to achieve reunification with the child's primary guardian;
• Provide flexibility to states by removing the one-size-fits all timeline for initiating termination of parental rights and replacing it with the option to modify or terminate rights only after the child has been in the state's custody for 24 consecutive months;
• Prohibit states from pursuing termination of parental rights if the parent of the child is actively engaged in services to address the reason for the child's removal;
• Ensure past criminal records do not automatically disqualify relatives from being caregivers unless there is evidence of a current safety risk to the child;
• Remove age limits for kinship caregivers over 18, focusing on their ability to provide care rather than age; and
• Define the scope of 'Kinship Placement Support Services' under title IV-B of the Social Security Act.

The Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act is part of a legislative package introduced by Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, including the Expanding Coverage for Former Foster Youth Act and the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act. A fact sheet for the entire legislative package can be found here.

The Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act is endorsed by iFoster and the National Foster Youth Institute.

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