Message
As a constituent I write to ask you to sponsor and support HB 4781: the KIND Act. Youth in the DCFS system face many challenges and hurdles. We need to have policies that provide these young people with the best outcomes, including removing barriers to allow family members to care for the youth.
For too long, Illinois has placed unnecessary hurdles in the way for family members to take in a child when they are removed from a household by DCFS. In many instances when a family member wants a child under the care of DCFS to live in their home, the Department denies the youth of a family member the resources and materials they would willingly provide to a stranger to care for that youth. The KIND Act fixes that disparity. The KIND Act requires that DCFS provides family caregivers with the same level of financial support that foster homes receive, and provide post-placement supports to family guardians similar to supports provided to adoptive families.
This bill is urgently needed. More than 10,000 youth in DCFS care live with relatives. At least 60% of these youth are unnecessarily denied the foster care benefits they would be entitled to if they were living in a foster home.
Finally, the KIND Act also removes barriers to subsidized guardianship for long-term relative family care and directs the juvenile courts to provide necessary oversight of the Department’s obligations to maintain family connection. Such oversight will ensure that DCFS is putting family members first and working for the best outcomes for youth.
Please support the HB 4781: the KIND Act when it is considered in Springfield.
