COA - Council On Accreditation

	Guardianship Services for Minors

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Definition

Guardianship Services for Minors provide assessment, information, and service planning to birth parents, children, and prospective guardians to determine if legal guardianship is a viable permanency option. Guardianship services also provide the child and their guardian with referrals, support, and other post-placement services to maintain the court-appointed placement.

Note: The term “minor” refers to an individual who has not reached the age of majority. The age of majority will vary from state to state and can range from 18 to 25 years of age depending on identified special needs. “Minor” may be substituted by the term “child” or “youth” throughout the section. The term “birth parents” refers to the child’s biological parents. “Prospective guardian” refers to any adult seeking to become the legal, long-term, guardian of the minor, and the term “guardian” refers to an individual who has been granted legal custody of the minor.

Note: When the case involves an Indian child, the agency should engage and collaborate with the child’s tribe throughout the provision of guardianship services as outlined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which governs state proceedings involving Indian children. This requires the inclusion of tribal representatives throughout all aspects of service delivery, including, but not limited to, permanency planning, assessment, service planning, and case closing. Additional opportunities for inclusion are identified in the standards. While collaboration with federally recognized tribes is required by ICWA, agencies should reach out to tribal representatives in cases involving federally non-recognized tribes as well, as their involvement in the case will improve access to culturally-relevant resources and help establish permanency through a heightened sense of belonging and connectivity to the child’s extended family, clan, or tribe.

While local Indian organizations are not granted the same rights as federally recognized tribes under the Indian Child Welfare Act, there may be circumstances under which their involvement is necessary and appropriate. These organizations can facilitate the child’s connection to his or her tribe, inform the family and the agency of services available to the child, act as an advocate for the Indian child and his or her family, and provide ongoing support and information. This involvement is particularly important when the child’s tribe does not have the infrastructure to participate formally in the case or when the tribe is geographically distant from the child’s home and their participation is somewhat limited.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Guardianship Services for Minors (GSM) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Guardianship refers to the transfer of legal responsibility for a minor from the state or tribe to a private caregiver or guardian. Guardianship is often appointed by the tribal or state juvenile or probate court and can include responsibility for the child, their estate, or both. Generally, the guardian has custody of the child, but parental rights have not been terminated. There are a variety of cultural, social, and ethical circumstances where guardianship may be the most appropriate option if family reunification has been ruled out including: when terminating parental rights goes against cultural norms; when adolescents do not wish to be adopted; or when a parent’s physical, emotional, or cognitive disabilities prevent him or her from being a permanent caregiver, but the termination of parental rights is unjustifiable.

In some states and tribes, guardianship is considered as a way to prevent the need for foster care placement altogether. In these cases, caregivers are granted legal custody without the child ever having been in custody of the state or tribe.


	PURPOSE: Guardianship Services for Minors support the establishment of a court-appointed, long-term, living arrangement with a committed caregiver that ensures safety and increases stability and child well-being.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	REFERRALS Resource suggestions provided to consumers to address problems or needs that are beyond the scope of the organization's mission.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	CUSTODY The care, control, and maintenance of a child. The court legally can award custody to an agency in abuse and neglect cases or to parents in divorce, separation, or adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control of major decisions for a child in foster care; foster parents do not have legal custody of the children for which they provide care.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	CASE CLOSING A voluntary or involuntary process which occurs when an organization no longer assumes responsibility for providing services to a particular individual, group, or family. Also known as "termination" or "discharge."


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	INDIAN ORGANIZATION As defined in ICWA, "Any group, association, partnership, cooperation, or other legal entity owned or controlled by Indians, or a majority of whose members are Indians."


	TERMINATION See CASE CLOSING