Resources

• Training for Kinship Caregivers
  States have a variety of approaches regarding training and assessment for kinship caregivers. We have assembled some here. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all training policies.

• Placement of Children with Relatives
  In order for States to receive Federal payments for foster care and adoption assistance, Federal law requires that they "consider giving preference to an adult relative over a non-related caregiver when determining placement for a child, provided that the relative caregiver meets all relevant State child protection standards." Current through February, 2005, this publication summarizes State statutes regarding relatives for placement or guardianship, requirements for placement with relatives, relatives who may adopt, and requirements for adoption by relatives.

• Is Kinship Care Good for Kids?
  This brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy addresses benefits of and myths about kinship care.

• Keeping Them in the Family: Outcomes for Abused and Neglected Children Placed With Family or Friends Carers Through Care Proceedings
  This project from the University of Oxford followed up a cohort of 113 children, removed from their parents’ care by the courts because of child protection concerns, who were then placed with members of their extended families or social networks.

• Kinship Care in the United States: A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Research
  The Social Work Research Center at Colorado State University conducted this systematic review of quantitative research on kinship care in the United States. For this study, the child welfare outcomes were permanency, behavior problems, mental health service utilization, reentry, adaptive behaviors, family relations, mental health problems, and educational attainment. According to the research, children in kinship care experience better outcomes in regard to behavior problems, reentry, adaptive behaviors, family relations, and mental health problems than do children in foster care. However, children placed with kin are less likely to achieve permanency and utilize mental health services.

• Supporting Kinship Care - Promising Practices and Lessons Learned
  This report from Casey Family Programs is intended to be an easy-to-use resource for administrators and practitioners in the child welfare field who desire to learn about the successful strategies Breakthrough Series Collaborative teams developed to support kinship care.

• Caring for their Children's Children: Assessing the Mental Health Needs and Service Experiences of Grandparent Caregiver Families
  This report from Chapin Hall reveals that absent parents play an ongoing and under-recognized role in the well-being of grandparents and grandchildren, regardless of whether they are a consistent, sporadic, or rare presence in the home. With respect to mental health needs, one-third of grandparents reported symptoms of depression themselves, and two-thirds were caring for grandchildren whom they identified as having emotional or behavioral problems. However, half of the families had no involvement with a child welfare agency, and fewer than a third of the grandchildren and only a handful of the grandmothers were currently receiving mental health services. The unmet mental health needs of both grandparents and their grandchildren are discussed as well as the implications of these findings for practitioners and advocates interested in meeting the service needs of grandparent-caregiver families.

• Assessing the Needs of Relative Caregivers and the Children in Their Care
  This report from Casey Family Programs, published in August 2003, presents a comprehensive picture of the difficulties faced by kinship care families and an appreciation of the strengths they bring to their situation. The report identifies ways in which the financial, physical, and social needs of children and caregivers are being met or left unanswered. It also identifies support systems that are sustaining families, as well as those that still need to be created.

• Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care
  The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 directed the Secretary of HHS to develop this report to Congress. This report was prepared with the input of the Advisory Panel on Kinship Care which met in October 1998 and January 1999. The report has two parts. Part I reviews the academic and related research literature on kinship care, including what is known about current practices in the use of relatives as foster parents. Part II is the Secretary's Report to Congress, which presents the Department's conclusions and recommendations based on the Advisory Panel's input, on internal deliberations, and on available research and data. In requesting this report, the Congress asked for information on a variety of topics including state practices, policies, and costs for services to families in which a relative cares for a child in state custody, as well as family characteristics and conditions that lead to relative foster care placements. Note that the Executive Summary includes information only on the research review and does not summarize the Secretary's Report. The full report in PDF format (681KB) is available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf

• Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children
  This report from Generations United presents the latest findings on the impact of relative care for children in foster care, describes the role of relatives as permanent families for the children in their care, and offers cost-effective ways to support relatives as caregivers through federal policy. It finds that children in relative foster care tend to be just as safe, or safer than, children placed with non-relative families. These placements often allow children to remain in their neighborhoods and schools and to live with their siblings.

Tools

• Tools for Permanency - Kinship Care
  The information in this NRCFCPPP tool can help child welfare agency and court practitioners evaluate whether or not kinship care is an option in any particular case.

• Tools for Working with Kinship Caregivers
  This document provides resources for child welfare professionals looking for training materials, assessment tools, and handbooks for kinship caregivers. Also listed are several websites and publications on this subject.

• State Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children
  In a national partnership, Children's Defense Fund, AARP, Casey Family Programs, National Center for Resource Family Support, The Brookdale Foundation, Child Welfare League of America, Generations United, The Urban Institute, and Johnson & Hedgpeth Consultants compiled and released state fact sheets that include: newly available Census data on the number of grandparent caregivers; a comprehensive list of kinship care family resources and services; state foster care policies for kinship caregivers; information about key public benefit programs; and state kinship care laws.

• Kinship Care Resource Kit
  The Children's Defense Fund has produced a Resource Kit which enables community or faith-based organizations to support grandparents and other relatives raising children. The resource kit is available in full pdf file, or by smaller topic files.

Resources from the States

• Highlights of Recent Kinship Care State Legislative Enactments
  This document from the National Conference of State Legislatures highlights recently enacted State legislation addressing kinship care for children receiving child welfare services. Legislation is described in the following areas: allowing grandparents and other relative caregivers to access medical care and treatment for children; allowing caregivers to enroll children in schools; promoting the placement of children with relatives; subsidizing guardianship and providing kinship foster care and other caregiver subsides and supports; allowing informal caregivers to qualify as de facto custodians with the right to initiate proceedings for appointment of a guardian; establishing a variety of study groups, task forces and oversight committees charged with examining issues facing kinship care providers; and authorizing kinship care navigator projects to help caregivers navigate their way through various systems such as child welfare, child care, TANF, health, legal/judicial, education and other services. Different State initiatives in each of these areas are described.

• Selected State Kinship Care Legislative Enactments, 1997-2005
  This document from NCSL summarizes legislation that was enacted in 34 different States from 1997-2005 that addresses kinship care for children receiving child welfare services.

• Colorado: Child Welfare Outcomes in Colorado: A Matched Comparison Between Children in Kinship and Foster Care
  This kinship care outcome study was conducted by the Social Work Research Center on behalf of the Applied Research in Child Welfare (ARCh) Project, which is a collaboration between the Colorado Department of Human Services twelve counties. The study employed a matched case design to compare children in kinship care with children in foster care on available child welfare outcomes. According to the findings, kinship care appears to be an evidence-based practice from both an outcome and cost-effectiveness perspective.

• Connecticut Kinship Navigator
  A comprehensive list of kinship care family resources and services from the United Way of Connecticut.

• Georgia: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Website
  The Department of Human Resources (DHR) is reaching out to grandparents raising grandchildren by providing more access to resources through all of its services/programs. This website includes resources and services that are available statewide or countywide and will serve as a place for grandparents to get further referrals for their individual needs. It includes financial, health, and social services available for grandparents raising grandchildren provided by DHR's Divisions and Offices.

• New Jersey Kinship Navigator
  The NJ Department of Human Services established the Kinship Navigator program to help kinship caregivers negotiate the labyrinth of government and community resources that may be available to them. This toll-free service helps kinship caregiver identify available resources and then advocates on their behalf to access those services.

• New York State Kinship Navigator
  This program offers a comprehensive information and referral network for caregivers to learn more about services and to obtain referrals to legal, financial, educational, health/mental health, support-group and housing resources in their area. Information provided includes answers to frequently asked questions; eligibility requirements for public assistance, tax credits and childcare; access to official records; facts sheets on laws; and forums for service providers.

• Washington Kinship Navigator Pilot Project Replication Manual
  This manual is intended to help service providers and policymakers use the lessons learned in the Kinship Navigator Pilot to expand and improve programs that support kinship caregivers of children and youth. The manual contents are based upon observations, interviews, and discussions with project staff, focus groups and surveys with kinship caregivers served by the pilot initiative. It provides a summary of the program’s background, philosophy and implementation steps offering a solid foundation for developing a Kinship Navigator program.