Gov. JB Pritzker signs law to make it easier for children's relatives to become foster parents
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at making it easier for relatives to become a child's foster parents.
The Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act would allow the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services more flexibility in certifying grandparents and other relatives as foster parents for children in their family.
"We want to put everything we have into helping kids find homes … so they can be safe, and be with loved ones, and grow and thrive in a family," DCFS director Heidi Mueller said.
Currently, relative caregivers must go through the same certification process as traditional licensed foster parents who may be total strangers to a child, making it difficult for them to take in a related child as their own.
Advocates said the new law creates a better connection for kids in DCFS care if they're placed with relatives in familiar homes.
The KIND Act also makes sure related foster parents would get the same financial benefits as traditional licensed foster caregivers to help them pay for the care and supervision of a child in their care.
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