Guardianship Assistance Program

2009 NACo Achievement Award Winner

Durham County, N.C., NC

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) is designed to support kinship care arrangements that occur as a direct result of Child Protective Services intervention and prevent youth from entering the foster care system unnecessarily. The program is intended to preserve and strengthen extended familial bonds, promote stability for abused and neglected youth through court approved legal security, reduce the trauma that results from the involuntary removal of youth from their families, assure the quality of approved kinship care through assessment and monitoring, and reduce the number of youth who enter foster care. The program is specifically intended to reduce the disproportionate number of African-America children who enter foster care. By providing support to kinship care arrangements, the Durham County Department of Social Services acknowledges the potential for financial and emotional strain on kinship caregivers that receive a child into their home unexpectedly. The department also recognizes the importance of extended kinship networks in developing and preserving a child’s familial and cultural identity.

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