Kinship Bill Picks Up Speed in Senate

August 29, 2007

The Kinship Caregiver Support Act (S. 661) picked up several key sponsors just before Congress left for the August recess. The bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Thad Cochran (R-MS) now has a total of 17 cosponsors. The most recent additions are Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who all became cosponsors on July 24.

Six of the cosponsors are on the critical Senate Finance Committee, including Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Charles Schumer (D-NY), in addition to Snowe, Stabenow, and Cantwell. The House bill, H.R. 2188, now has 17 cosponsors as well, including the lead bipartisan cosponsors, Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL) and Tim Johnson (R-IL). Representative Todd Platts (R-PA) who cosponsored the Education Begins at Home Act (H.R. 2343) with Davis, has also agreed to cosponsor the kinship bill.

Edgewood Center for Children and Families is a national leader in providing support services for relatives taking care of a family member's child. When it began, Edgewood's Kinship program was the first of its kind. Today, the Edgewood Kinship Support Network works with similar programs across California to help relative caregivers state-wide.

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