Using the Fourteenth Amendment to Protect the Integrity of Kinship Foster Families

Authors

Jennifer Baum, St. John's University School of LawFollow
Teresa J. Grogan

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Children's Rights

Publication Date

2009

Volume

11(2)

First Page

1

Abstract

(Excerpt)

As children’s advocates, we know well the value of an extended family to a dependency case. Living with a family member is often considered by children removed from their parents to be the “second best.” Such arrangements are often more comforting, less socially stigmatizing, and more capable at facilitating children’s normal daily routines, including school, medical care, and religious training, than stranger foster care. The social and psychological benefits of kinship care are well documented. One recent retrospective study concluded that children in kinship foster care have fewer behavioral problems three years after placement than do children who were placed into foster care with nonrelatives. Another review of multiple studies found that “children in kinship foster care experience better behavioral development, mental health functioning, and placement stability than do children in nonkinship foster care.”

But what rights attach to these new families that are formed by contract yet have their origins in biology? Do kinship foster children have a constitutionally protected liberty interest in residing with their kinship foster families? If so, are there limits on that liberty interest? This article addresses the applicability of substantive due process to families providing kinship foster care to children, and provides specific suggestions for strengthening the rights of such families in various jurisdictions.

Comments

Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/litigation_committees/childrights/childrens_spring2009.pdf

©2009. Published in Children's Rights, Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 2009, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.

In version published on ABA website the article appears on pp. 1, 4-7.