When it comes to financial aid for low-income families in Washington, DC, help is readily available for parents, caregivers of children in foster care, and agencies responsible for placing children in the homes of adoptive parents. 

But when it comes to grandparents, things get complicated.  There are a number of impediments to receiving financial aid.  The primary obstacle is obtaining legal custody, since usually there are only informal arrangements between the parents and grandparents. 

Anne Kastle (not her real name), a grandmother to seven children, four of them minors, found herself in such a predicament.  The children's mother passed away in 1996 without making formal custody arrangements with Kastle, and now she needed help.  Raising her grandchildren was a difficult enough task, but jumping through the hoops of DC's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) was another matter.  That is, until Dana Foster, a litigator in the Washington, DC office, became involved.

Help Is Available

In April 2006, Dana signed on with Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE), a local nonprofit organization that offers free legal services and advocacy for DC's elderly.  One of LCE's focuses was on CFSA's new Grandparent Caregivers Pilot Program.  Often, grandparents end up raising their grandchildren with only informal custody arrangements and no help from public assistance.  The DC Council recognized this problem and passed legislation for the program, which provides qualified grandparents with the same benefits that foster parents already receive.

The program provides subsidies to eligible low-income caregivers — grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles — once they meet the program's requirements.  LCE identifies grandparents who may qualify for such subsidy payments under the program, and places their cases with volunteer lawyers to assist them in obtaining legal custody of their grandchildren and with completing the other requirements.  Dana went to an LCE-sponsored training session, and received Kastle's  file that same day.

"Ms. Kastle should qualify for sainthood," Dana said of his client.  "She raised seven of her grandchildren, all of them since birth."  The oldest is now 22 and the youngest is 12.  All of the children suffer from disabilities, ranging from depression and eating disorders to attention deficit disorder and slight mental retardation.

Overcoming the Legal Hurdles
 
Dana filed separate custody complaints for each of Kastle's four minor grandchildren, and, after a hearing, the DC Family Court granted Kastle custody.

After obtaining custody, four criminal background checks and four Child Protection Register checks had to be performed on all of the adults living at the home — in this case, on Kastle and her three adult grandchildren still living with her.

To be eligible for the program, Kastle also had to prove that she had previously applied for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children), and provide information about her annual income.  Dana took charge of the negotiations with the program's administrators, determining what information was sufficient to prove that she has filed for aid, and badgering the program's administrators to ensure that Kastle's completed application was processed expeditiously.

Dana also accompanied Kastle to sign the subsidy agreement with CFSA, to answer her questions, to ensure that there were no other requirements attached to the subsidy that might be unacceptable to Kastle, and to talk to the administrators about the conditions of her aid. 

"Signing the subsidy agreement was really the culmination of everything that was done, so I wanted to be there to see it completed," Dana said. 

Great Results

Dana, a member of the Commercial Litigation group, said: "My regular caseload involves mostly antitrust and bankruptcy litigation.  This case gave me a chance to try something new and help out a fellow-DC resident at the same time.  It was a great experience." 

Anne Smith, counsel in the Washington, DC office and the Firm's main contact with LCE, added that family law is not an area to which corporate litigation lawyers are exposed in their work.  "Our pro bono involvement with LCE allows our litigators to do what they do best — litigate — while learning about a new area of law, and helping the most vulnerable members of our society: children and the elderly."

In January 2007, Kastle finally began receiving financial assistance from the Grandparent Caregivers Pilot Program.  The result: the subsidy more than doubled her previous monthly income, allowing her to better provide for her grandchildren.  Needless to say, she was very pleased with the outcome of her case.

Representing clients in litigation is what our lawyers do well.  Making the lives of one amazing woman and her seven grandchildren better is what makes the work rewarding.

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© 2007 White & Case LLP