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Long awaited financial help will be coming to 鈥溾�� Kentuckians who are raising a minor relative such as a grandchild or niece, thanks to a bill that received unanimous approval in the House Friday.

now heads to Gov. Andy Beshear鈥檚 desk for a signature or veto. It passed .

, president of the , hailed the bill鈥檚 passage as a 鈥済ame changer for a lot of families in the future.鈥�

The bill allows kinship caregivers to change their placement status from temporary custody to a child-specific foster home, a change that will come with financial assistance, as the .

It will also let children being removed from homes list their potential preferred caregivers, allowing them more say in their placements.

Rep. Samara Heavrin, R-Leitchfield, brought the Senate bill to the House floor. The bill, she said, is all about giving kinship care families in Kentucky more flexibility.

鈥淭his flexibility will close the services, supports and resource gap that is currently plaguing many of the families,鈥� she said.

, who has been raising two grandchildren for nearly a decade, is a longtime champion of kinship families and renewed her push for help from the legislature this year. She told the Lantern on Friday that the bill鈥檚 passage was 鈥渉ugely emotional.鈥� She said she cried in the House gallery  as the bill was approved.

The fact that both chambers passed the measure unanimously 鈥渟ays very clearly this needed to happen,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 the right thing to do. I mean, there鈥檚 just absolutely no doubt anywhere.鈥�

Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said  final passage of HB 151 means 鈥渢housands of Kentucky鈥檚 kinship and fictive kin families flat out won today.鈥�

鈥淛ust as these caregivers step up at a moment鈥檚 notice to provide a safe space for their young loved ones to grow and heal, our General Assembly has stepped up once again to prioritize the well-being of these children who have experienced abuse or neglect,鈥� Brooks said.

Still, work remains, Hatfield said. She鈥檚 closely watching a that, if passed, would establish a . Members would study kinship in Kentucky and submit findings by Dec. 1, which Hatfield said could provide needed data revealing needs facing kinship caregivers.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that the study will clearly identify those things, educate the legislators as well, educate the public, and then we can start working on the rest of the supports that are needed for these families that are kind of caught in a gap that don鈥檛 have anything,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have high hopes for that.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: [email protected]. Follow Kentucky Lantern on and .

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