National Foster Care Month Resources

Kinship care, in its various forms, has become increasingly important in meeting the needs of children involved in the child welfare system. When children cannot remain safely with their parents, placement with relatives or kin is the preferred option as it can help to maintain family connections and cultural traditions that can minimize the trauma of family separation. Below are resources that demonstrate how prioritizing the placement of children and youth in foster care with biological family, or kin can help transform the child welfare system into one that truly supports families and maintains connections. This includes an emphasis on family finding and other child-specific recruitment strategies, best practices for family engagement, and licensing relative caregivers who understand their unique ability to partner with parents to support reunification. These resources also highlight the positive impact that culturally appropriate trainings and services and equitable supports to kin caregivers can have on placement stability and permanency outcomes for children and families.