Informational & Practice Publications, Resources, & Tools
Guardianship: A Web-based Primer
Guardianship is an extremely important area of child welfare policy and practice, and is huge in scope. Rather than attempting to address all guardianship issues in this document, in this online resource, the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC) strategically presents an overview of the salient issues. It is intended as an online tool for programs, states and tribes where promising practices, programs and resources are made available. For this primer, NRCPFC thoroughly reviewed provisions in the legislation that address guardianship. Our goal is to provide the field with information on the components that support guardianship. This primer provides a broad array of resources from research, state policies, procedures and practice and includes an organizational self-study guide.
Teleconferences, Webinars, Webcasts & Videos
Re-Visiting the Adoption-Guardianship Discussion: Helping Caseworkers Better Understand and Communicate the Permanency Implications of Adoption and Guardianship
This webinar, co-sponsored by the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections and the National Resource Center for Adoption, summarized the foundation on which guardianship as a permanency option was developed; provided a comparative look at the qualities of permanency for adoption and guardianship; discussed the value of guardianship for kinship families, Native Americans, and older youth; and highlighted strategies for the engagement and education of families in the decision making process. (February 20, 2014)
Permanency through Guardianship: Formulas for Successful Programs
The NRCPFC and Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) hosted a teleconference for state foster care and adoption managers, featuring presentations by Jennifer Miller of Cornerstone Consulting and Mark Testa of Children and Family Research Center. The archived audio files and PowerPoint presentations are available. (January 25, 2005)
*Many of these resources were developed previously by the
National Resource Center for
Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC).
Informational & Practice Publications, Resources, & Tools
Issue Brief: Standby Guardianship
This issue brief developed by the National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center, a service of the Children’s Bureau and member of the T/TA Network, provides an overview of the practice of standby guardianship and how it may be used. (2012)
Standby Guardianship
This publication from the Child Welfare Information Gateway examines State standby guardianship laws in which a parent may transfer guardianship of his or her child to a specific person under certain conditions. Many States developed these laws specifically to address the needs of parents living with HIV/AIDS, other disabling conditions, or terminal illnesses who want to plan a legally secure future for their children. A standby guardianship differs from traditional guardianships in that the parent retains much of his or her authority over the child. (Current through July 2011)
BRYCS Guardianship Toolkit
This toolkit from Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services (BRYCS) is intended for individuals assisting refugee families who are caring for non-biological children (such as grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, siblings, or friends). Overseas, these children are typically referred to as “separated children,” while in the U.S. Refugee Program, they are typically referred to as “attached refugee minors.” In the U.S. legal and child welfare fields, these caregivers are often referred to as “relative caregivers” or families with “kinship care” arrangements. This toolkit includes the following resources: Guardianship Fact Sheet for Staff Assisting Refugee Families; Legal Guardianship for Refugee Children Living in the U.S. with Relatives; List of Highlighted Resources on Guardianship; and Searchable Directory. The searchable directory provides basic information about procedures for establishing guardianship in each state.
