Children's Bureau Website - Delaware - Assisted Guardianship/Kinship Permanence

Delaware

Demonstration Type:	Assisted Guardianship/Kinship Permanence¹
Approved:	June 17, 1996
Implemented:	July 1, 1996
Expected Completion:	December 31, 2002
Interim Evaluation Report Expected:	June 30, 1999
Final Evaluation Report Expected:	March 27, 2002

Target Population

Delaware offered assisted guardianship to title IV-E eligible children for whom reunification and adoption were not options. Eligible children were those who had been living in an approved foster care placement for at least one year and had a strong attachment to their potential guardian. The State’s goal was to enroll up to 10 children per year in the assisted guardianship demonstration.

Jurisdiction

The program was implemented in all three of the State's counties.

Intervention

Assisted guardianship was offered as a new permanency option for children in stable foster care placements. Child protective workers prepared a petition for guardianship for approval by the Family Court. After a guardianship was granted, child protective workers had a final meeting with the foster family and child. Under the waiver agreement, the family and child could continue to receive, on request, case management services, including child health care and mental health care services through Medicaid, as well as “post-adoption services.” Delaware provided a guardianship payment equal to the State's foster care payment.

Evaluation Design

The evaluation consisted of process, outcome, and cost-effectiveness components. Due to the small sample size, the State used a pre/post-test design to test the effectiveness of the assisted guardianship component. The State planned to measure time to permanency, child and caretaker satisfaction, the degree to which guardianships limited intrusion into participants’ lives and created more family-like environments, and child and family well-being.

Evaluation Findings

Process Findings

Delaware’s Final Evaluation Report noted that the average time for a guardianship to be awarded by the court was nine months, but ranged from less than three months to more than a year. Most of this time was spent waiting for a court date. The first three children were approved for assisted guardianships during the first six months of the demonstration, June 1996 – December 1996; however, the Court finalized the first guardianship under the waiver demonstration in January 1998.

As of September 30, 2001, the total number of title IV-E eligible families enrolled in the demonstration was 36, and 18 families were pending approval. All of the children in the assisted guardianship program had special needs, particularly with respect to age and ethnicity. Most children (81 percent) were more than 12 years of age at the time of approval. Fourteen children (39 percent) with approved guardianships were in sibling groups. Eighty-one percent of the children with approved guardianships were African American.

Although the State had set a target of approving ten cases per year, only one case was approved in the first year and eight in the next. (The State attributes these low numbers to the fact that caseworkers were not discussing assisted guardianship with potentially eligible families.) In response, Delaware’s Division of Family Services instituted new policies and procedures, establishing a Permanency Committee to review each case that entered and remained in care for more than nine months. The State reported that this committee was familiar with guardianship and recommended guardianship as a goal when deemed appropriate for the child. In addition, the program manager met with caseworkers and foster parents to explain the program and answer questions. A half-day training session on assisted guardianship was offered to foster parents in the southern part of the State in March 1999, and statewide training for agency staff was held in June and July 2001.

Outcome Findings

A report dated October 2001 indicated that evaluation of this component of the demonstration was challenging. While interview and survey responses indicated positive attitudes toward assisted guardianship, very few caseworkers and caretakers participated in interviews or returned surveys.

The State's March 2002 Final Evaluation Report indicated that the individuals who completed surveys generally expressed satisfaction with assisted guardianship. However, the evaluation findings were limited by the fact that only 3 guardians completed the interview upon being awarded guardianship, and responses were received from only 4 out of the 27 guardians who were mailed surveys.

¹Based on information submitted by the State as of March 2002. Delaware operated two separate projects under its IV-E waiver agreement: (1) an assisted guardianship program, and (2) a substance abuse services demonstration. Back

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