N-docket Custody Commonly Referred to as Article 10

Direct Placement Kinship Options at a Glance:

• Child was removed by CPS and placed by Family Court order
• Kin Caregiver has temporary legal custody
• Case worker and court supervision
• May be eligible as a household for Temporary Assistance
• Not eligible for adoption subsidy or s
• Parents have the right to visit but cannot regain custody without a court order

Learn More About Direct Placement Kinship Options

In this option, the child is removed from the home (protective removal) and placed with the relative by the Family Court as a part of an abuse or neglect case (Article 10 of the Family Court Act). This is often referred to as a “direct placement.” The relative is given temporary physical and legal custody of the child. The temporary custody may last as long as there is an Article 10 case before the Family Court. It may end at an earlier point in the Article 10 proceeding depending on the status of the case.

The relative may apply for a non-parent caregiver grant (also known as a “child only” grant) from the agency’s Temporary Assistance (TA) office.* This benefit is generally available to all non-parent caregivers and includes Medicaid for the child. To receive the full grant, the nonparent caregiver must agree to cooperate with efforts to collect child support from the child’s parent(s) unless seeking child support may result in harm to the relative or the child.

Public benefits, such as food stamps and heating assistance (HEAP), may be available for the non-parent caregiver’s household through the agency’s TA office or HRA. Other helpful benefits may include Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance (for children under the age of five) and reduced or free lunch at school. If they work, relatives may apply for help with child care costs. Some children may qualify for Social Security benefits, based on the child’s disability and the earnings of the child’s parents. Relatives also may be eligible for childrelated tax credits.

At first, it is likely that the child’s long-term goal, known as the “permanency goal,” will be to return home. That goal could change if the parent does not show progress in dealing with the issues that led to the child’s placement. In some cases, a relative may adopt, apply for an order of custody that is not subject to periodic court review, or may become the child’s guardian (See Option B).

The Family Court will periodically review the case of a child placed under Article 10 at a permanency hearing, and the agency will supervise the parent, child, and relative caregiver until the child is returned home or another plan for permanency is achieved. The agency must provide written permanency hearing reports to the Family Court eight months after removal and every six months thereafter. The relative caregiver will receive a copy of each report and will be invited to each of the permanency hearings.

If the parent decides to surrender his or her parental rights, the Family Court terminates the parental rights, or the parent dies, the relative may file a petition to adopt the child but will not be eligible for an adoption subsidy. Alternatively, the relative may file a petition in court to become the child’s permanent guardian, but no subsidy is available for this option either, as the relative would not qualify for KinGAP assistance because he or she was not the child’s relative foster parent.