Kinship foster care is when a child is placed in the home of a relative due to their parent or guardian’s inability to care for the child. In Tennessee, kinship foster care occurs when the Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”) places a child in the home of another caregiver or another adult with a significant relationship to the child. Tennessee’s kinship foster care program is called “The Relative Caregiver Program.” Tennessee’s Relative Caregiver Program (“RCP”) allows for children to be placed with family, rather than being placed in the foster care system. Similar to foster care, relative caregivers must meet several requirements for a relative child to be placed in their care. First, the relative caregiver must be related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. This does not allow for family friends or other non-related individuals to qualify as a relative caregiver. Second, the relative caregiver must have primary care and control of the child throughout the entire process. This process requires the relative caregiver to have primary care and control of the child during informal and formal family arrangements, legal custody, guardianship, etc. If the relative child does not remain in the relative caregiver’s primary care and control during any point in the process, then the child may not be placed in the relative caregiver’s home under the RCP. Third, the birth parent(s) are not permitted to live in the relative caregiver’s home. For example, if a birth father lives in his aunt’s home, then the aunt cannot be the child’s relative caregiver. Fourth, the relative caregiver’s adjusted household income cannot exceed twice the current Federal Poverty Guideline based on the number of persons residing in the family home. For 2024, the poverty line for a family of four is $31,200. If someone lives in a family of four, and their household income is double $31, 200, equating to $62,400, then they are ineligible to be a relative caregiver. All of these requirements must be met; therefore, if one of these four requirements is not met, then someone cannot become a relative caregiver. Unlike foster parents, relative caregivers are not guaranteed monthly financial support. While a monthly stipend is not guaranteed, Tennessee provides various other services for relative caregivers. Some of those resources are the following: youth/ teen support groups, educational workshops, emergency one-time financial or start-up assistance, referral services, caregiver and respite enrichment, caregiver support groups, information about applying for TANF or SNAP, or aid in locating important child-related documents. Though monthly financial support is not guaranteed, it is sometimes granted. If monthly financial support is granted, the following criteria must be met: (1) a final custody order of the court, (2) the relative caregiver is over the age of twenty-one, and (3) the relative caregiver must seek and enforce child support against the birth parent(s).RCP requirements may seem intense, but the benefits of RCP are often high. RCP allows for children to remain in a close familial bond that may be harmed if the child is placed in normal foster care. When children are placed in RCP, they usually remain in the community that they are most familiar with. RCP increases stability as it decreases a greater risk of harm to children when they are already being taken from the birth parent(s). RCP may not be for every family, but it does put Tennessee families first.If you believe you require legal assistance regarding Tennessee’s Relative Caregiver Program, you should speak with an attorney about your specific situation and what your options are. Contact King Law at 888-748- (5464)KING for a consultation. We have offices located across Western North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, and Eastern Tennessee. King Law is here to serve you and help navigate this journey you are on.
