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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-21-06

HB

SHORT TITLE

GRANDPARENTS & KINSHIP CAREGIVER

SUPPORT

SB 270

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$405.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates HB87,

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Family Department (CYFD)

Aging and Long Term Care Department (ALTCD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 270 appropriates $405.0 from the GENERAL FUND for expenditure in FY 07 to

Children, Youth and Family Department for the purpose of supporting grandparents and kinship

caregivers.

This bill specifies:

•

$75.0 for staff, travel and support for an advisory committee on grandparents and kinship

caregivers.

•

$80.0 to create a kinship caregivers web site.

•

$250.0 to contract with legal services to support kinship caregivers’ efforts to establish

legal relationships between children and caregivers for children who would otherwise en-

ter the foster care system.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Bill 270 – Page

2

This bill contains the recommendations in SJM50 from the 2005 legislative session. The appro-

priation amounts in this bill match those as submitted in the SJM 50 report of November 2005.

Of the $250,000 in this bill earmarked for legal services, $200,000 was recommended in the ex-

ecutive’s budget to go to ALTSD. HAFC has adopted the Exec budget recommendations for

ALTSD; therefore $200,000 of the $250,000 is already funded.

The appropriation of $405,000 contained in this bill is a RECURRING expense to the

GENERAL FUND. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 07

shall revert to the GENERAL FUND.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

ALTCD provides the following comment:

“When parents are not able to care for their children or when parental care results in

abuse or neglect, it is the responsibility of the state to provide for the safety of the

children. In New Mexico, where the culture of the extended family is strong, grand-

parents, siblings and other relatives frequently assume the parenting responsibilities

for periods of time ranging from a few days to a lifetime. This familial solution pro-

vides children with a connection to their family of origin and reduces the financial

and administrative burden on the state, but it frequently adds a severe financial,

physical, and emotional burden on elderly family members. The purpose of SJM 50

is to research the impact of these familial arrangements on both children and caregiv-

ers and assure that these families receive the support services the state would other-

wise be providing for these children by CYFD, ALTSD other state agencies.

In New Mexico, there are 41,085 children living in grandparent-headed households

(8.1% of all the children in the state). There are another 10,572 children living in

households headed by other relatives (2.1% of all the children in the state).

In New Mexico, 54,041 grandparents report they are responsible for their grandchil-

dren living with them [4,272 in Albuquerque]: 2% of these grandparents are African

American; 53% are Hispanic/Latino; 20% are American Indian or Alaskan Native;

and 23% are White. 30% of these grandparents live in households without the chil-

dren’s parents present.”

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The bill appropriates $80.0 to create a kinship caregiver web site; however, it does not provide

for on-going maintenance and administrative costs to keep the web site going after 2007. The

language may want to be changed to “create and support” a kinship caregiver web site or else

CYFD would have to absorb any additional administrative costs.

There is $250,000 dedicated for legal services in this bill that the executive recommended in the

base ALTSD recommendation. HAFC, having adopted the executive recommendation for

ALTSD, has funded most of the legal service need.

Senate Bill 270 – Page

3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates House Bill 87

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The bill appropriates $75,000 for staff, travel and support for an advisory committee on grand-

parents and kinship caregivers. The bill does not specify who should be on the advisory commit-

tee or who would be the committee lead. SJM50 recommends a standing committee composed

of staff from Aging and Long Term Care Department, Children, Youth and Family Department,

Human Services Department, Public Education Department, Department of Corrections, Admin-

istrative Office of the Courts.

If most of the legal fees have been “covered” in the HAFC adoption of the executive recommen-

dation, the allocation of funds in this bill can be reduced or reallocated. If the appropriation is

not reduced or reallocated, then the legal fees will have been appropriated twice, once to CYFD

and once to ALTSD.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

This bill does not specify whether the children identified in the bill must be in the custody of

CYFD, involved in the judicial system, or simply living with the grandparents or kinship care-

givers.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo

DL/nt