Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2002
Abstract
In this note, Ms. Gipson Rankin discusses kinship care as an alternative to placing children into foster care. For generations, particularly in the Black community, grandparents and other older relatives have played a crucial role in raising the children of younger relatives when they have become unable or unwilling to raise the children themselves. This system, known as kinship care, has ensured that thousands of American children are cared for and raised by members of their own families. The note explores the history and nature of the kinship care system, and analyzes federal and state policies that impact the system. The author considers why many Black grandparents do not choose to enter into a legal relationship with the children whom they are raising and the legal ramifications of this decision. Ms. Gipson Rankin also provides nonintrusive alternatives that states could implement to encourage more grandparents to enter into a legal relationship with the children who are in their care.
Publication Title
Elder Law Journal
Volume
10
Issue
1
First Page
153
Last Page
186
Recommended Citation
Sonia M. Gipson Rankin,
Why They Won't Take the Money: Black Grandparents and the Success of Informal Kinship Care,
10
Elder Law Journal
153
(2002).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/654
