The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case involving a growing number of Kentucky relatives providing free foster care for children. Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services was seeking to overturn a ruling earlier this year by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the state must pay relatives who take in foster children.
The nation's high court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from the cabinet. The Courier-Journal reports that the result is that Kentucky must begin paying those relatives the same as they do licensed foster families.
The case revolved around a lawsuit filed by Lexington lawyer Richard Dawahare on behalf of a great-aunt who took in two young boys but was denied foster payments from the state.
While some say it's what's best for the children, others worry how the state will afford it.
The Cabinet of Health and Family Services oversees foster care in Kentucky. Its website shows the average cost per child in foster care is $77 a day, depending on the child's needs. Roughly 7,900 children are in state custody. About 300 live with relatives.