Contact:
Andrea Bennett
abennett@kyyouth.org
(502) 381-1176
Jeffersontown, KY – Today’s passage of SB 176 by the Senate affirms the importance Kentuckians place on family values. The bill ensures that the 59,000 children in Kentucky being raised by grandparents and other relatives can access fundamental services like health care and education. Research shows that children fare better when cared for by relatives compared to foster care with strangers.
Many times grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other relatives step in to care for children in their extended family on a temporary basis until the parents can stabilize their living situation. For some relative caregivers, the time, expense, and drama of going to court to get a legal relationship just isn’t feasible. SB 176 simply ensures that relative caregivers who do not have legal custody or guardianship of children have the ability to enroll them in school or take them to the doctor. This is a common sense solution that doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.
We commend Senator Harper Angel, who was raised by her grandmother, for sponsoring this important piece of legislation. The passage of SB 176 today represents a step forward to help children currently being raised by relatives in Kentucky. We now encourage members of the House to support the bill.
Thanks, for putting the children’s well being first. Please, keep their lives in the forefront of every decision.
It is my sincere hope that both House of Representatives and Senate vote to support the bill supporting relatives providing care for family members and returning the Child Care Assistance Program to its former funding levels and pre freeze status. In the long run, it saves money, but more importantly, it positively affects the lives of young children and allows Kentucky’s workforce to prosper.
I am a grandmother of 5 and my husband thomas and I are raising them.We are receiving 380.00 a month total for all the children and it is very difficult providing all they need with this amount.Please I pray the Senate passes to put kinshipcare active again.Ty