Kinship Care refers to a temporary or permanent arrangement in which a relative or any non-relative adult who has a long-standing relationship or bond with the child and/or family, has taken over the full-time, substitute care of a child whose parents are unable or unwilling to do so. Kinship Care includes those relationships established through an informal arrangement, legal custody or guardianship order, a relative foster care placement or kinship adoption. Regardless of the type of kinship care arrangement, the kinship caregivers' voluntary commitment to devote their lives to the children in their care is a courageous, life-changing decision.
Kinship care represents the most desirable out-of-home placement option for children who cannot live with their parents. It offers the greatest level of stability by allowing children to maintain their sense of belonging and enhances their ability to identify with their family's culture and traditions.
The Kinship Permanency Incentive program is designed to promote a permanent commitment by the kinship caregiver by becoming a guardian and custodian over a minor child who would otherwise be unsafe or at risk of harm if the child remained in their own home. The Kinship Permanency Incentive program provides time-limited incentive payments to families caring for their kin. Eligible families will receive an initial payment of $1,000 per child to defray the costs of initial placement and may receive five hundred dollars per child at each six-month interval to support the stability of the child's placement in the home up to a maximum of $3,500. Participation in this program does not preclude these families from receiving Child Only TANF benefits; time-limited incentive payments are in addition to TANF benefits.
For more information, please contact your local public children services agency or call 1-866-886-3537 (Option 4).
To view the Kinship Permanency Incentive Program brochure, click here
To view the Kinship Permanency Incentive Program poster, click here
For additional information, click the following: http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/kinship_care.stm