LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A bill in Frankfort could soon change how Kentucky handles kinship care, that's what happens when a child is removed from their parents' home and placed in the care of a family member. According to the U.S. Census Bureau about 96,000 Kentucky kids live in kinship care ranking the state third highest in the nation.
Senate Bill 151 would allow the children being removed from their parent's home to require a court to consider a list they provide of potential caregivers. It also gives potential caregivers time to ensure they are financially able to raise the child.
Norma Hatfield, a Louisville grandmother, is currently in this situation and has been advocating for better assistance from state lawmakers. She has been raising her two granddaughters for over nine years now and that getting to the point of kinship care has been a journey.
"I want to make sure my experience in the system don't happen to others," Hatfield said. "I want to make sure we can make things better."
Hatfield has partnered with the Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) to create the Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky to help others navigate the difficult process she went through.
"My advocacy for kinship families here in Kentucky, it started when my two grandkids went into the system and instead of us getting a phone call they went straight into foster care," Hatfield said.
Chief Officer of Policy & Strategy at KYA, Shannon Moody, said Hatfield really took initiative to get involved with lawmakers to aid others in her situation.
"We had a couple of grandparents involved a bit in the beginning and then when Norma came to the table with the Kinship Families Coalition it really got folks charged and around the cause in a way we haven't quite seen before." Moody said.
Last week Hatfield appeared in committee with Senator Julie Raque Adams of District 36 to speak on the importance of this bill. Adams has voiced heavy compassion for SB 151 as she stated in front of other lawmakers that she will be keeping a sharp eye on how this bill moves.
She said Kentucky has a tremendous burden of children who have been removed from their homes for various reasons.
"In particular from substance abuse, and child abuse and neglect," Adams said. "When I first started in this space there were about 12,000 kids in foster care. Now were down to about 8,000 to 9,000 kids, depending on statistics."
If SB 151 comes into play it will give both potential caregivers and children a right on who they will live with.
"It was a child out of Bowling Green that brought the idea to me that, 'Why can't I as a child who's been in this kind of situation, why can't I weigh-in and let the court know who I might feel most comfortable with,'" Adams said.
For Hatfield and her grandchildren the support from the state will be an accomplishment she's been fighting for over multiple years.
"I'm going to be driving back and forth to Frankfort to watch this bill," Hatfield said. "To birddog this bill so to speak because it is absolutely the right thing to do for kids and we can."
Hatfield wanted me to point out that she's been fighting for this through two governor administrations. SB 151 is currently in the hands of the house and is expected to be voted on by next week, from there it will go to the governor's desk.
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