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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
4225.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 2:30 PM

Abstract #109471

Consequences of policy change – one year after the Ohio Grandparent Caregiver Law

Dionne Henderson, BS1, Carla Clasen, RN/MPH1, and Kate Cauley, PhD2. (1) Center for Healthy Communities, Wright State University, 140 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, OH 45402, 937-775-1116, dionne.henderson@wright.edu, (2) Center for Healthy Communities/Wright State University, 140 E. Monument Ave., Dayton, OH 45402

On July 20, 2004, the Grandparent Caregiver Law went into effect in Ohio. This bill allows grandparents who are the sole caregivers of their grandchildren to obtain either a Power of Attorney (with the consent of the parents) or a Caregiver Authorization (when the parents are unavailable), enabling them to enroll the child in school and consent to medical treatment. While there was significant opposition to the bill from the judicial and school communities, these concerns were addressed sufficiently in revisions of the bill to allow passage by the Ohio General Assembly. In Montgomery County the Kinship Care Coalition, a community-wide coalition, convened a task force to increase public awareness of the law, establish protocols and procedures for filing for power of attorney or caregiver authorization, and monitor the implementation of the law. The task force includes members from the juvenile courts, the local children's services board, the health district, Legal Aid, and several public school districts. This presentation will give a brief history of the Kinship Care Coalition and its involvement with advocating for the law, detail the process and results of the Task Force's work, and describe what has happened in the more than one year that the law has been in effect. Factors with significant impact on success will be reviewed, including the roles of the Kinship Navigators, the community wide coalition, and the focused task force.

Learning Objectives:

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

Informal and Formal Caregiving for Elders

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA