Kinship Guardianship Faces More Challenges Than Other Families

It is becoming increasingly more common for children to grow up in the care of relatives other than their parents. This is especially true for states such as Florida, where this type of guardianship accounts for 40 percent of the children in foster care. Some critics argue that the state should increase assistance to children in these situations because the financial and emotional challenges faced by these children are significantly worse than other children.

This situation can be problematic for many of these children since these extended-family guardians tend to be more impoverished and less educated than the average…