Action Center    Rosales v. Thompson

Action

Educate your members of Congress on how proposals to overturn the Ninth Circuit judicial decision, Rosales v. Thompson would harm grandfamilies.  The Administration’s budget proposes to “clarify the process for determining eligibility in the Foster Care Program” in a way that would deny federal foster care assistance to tens of thousands of children living with relatives.

Background

The Rosales v. Thompson court ruling in 2003 assists many children living with relatives who have been or would be denied federal foster care benefits under the Department of Health and Human Services current interpretation of federal law. It specifically:
 

1) allows more grandparents and other relative caregivers to care for children with the assistance of IV-E funding

2) makes it possible for children to live with relatives who could not afford to care for them otherwise.

If Rosales v. Thompson is overturned by the President’s proposal, many children will not have the advantage of remaining with relatives, but instead placed with unfamiliar foster families or in group homes.
 

The Administration in its 2006 Budget proposed to “clarify the process for determining eligibility in the Foster Care Program” in order to address the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Rosales v. Thompson.  This proposal will overturn Rosales v. Thompson, an important court ruling that supports relative caregivers.

Connect

Click here for a Q and A about Rosales V. Thompson.

Click here for a brief prepared by the Center for Law and Social Policy.