Who needs Daddy Warbucks: The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program should apply to children of those who surrender their parental rights

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Thomas Herman
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12699

STUDENT NOTES

Who needs Daddy Warbucks: The Kinship

Guardianship Assistance Program should apply to

children of those who surrender their parental

rights

Thomas Herman

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra

University, Hempstead, New York, USA

Correspondence

Thomas Herman, Maurice A. Deane School of

Law at Hofstra University, 121 Hofstra

University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA.

Email: therman2@pride.hofstra.edu

Abstract

Families who find themselves in the middle of child protective

proceedings have three possible outcomes: (1) the family can

reunify; (2) parents voluntarily surrender their parental rights;

or (3) the parents have their rights terminated. While it seems

we should support children in the second and third scenarios

equally, having funding sources such as the Kinship Guardian-

ship Assistance Program (KinGAP) only available to children of

parents whose rights are terminated, does the opposite. This

Note proposes amending the eligibility requirements of

KinGAP to include children of parents who surrender their

parental rights which would encourage positive safe place-

ments for children.

KEYWORDS

Foster care, Guardian, KinGAP, kinship, permanency goal,

relative, termination of parental rights, title IV-E, voluntary

surrender

Key Points for the Family Court Community

•KinGAP provides financial assistance to kinship care-

givers who take on the legal responsibility of

guardianship.

•The purpose of KinGAP is to create more guardians for

the permanent placement of foster children who would

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12699

© 2022 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Family Court Rev. 2023;61:203–217. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre 203