Resources address ways to locate and manage funding for kinship care services, including State and local examples.
Changes Needed in Federal Child Welfare Law to Better Protect Children and Ensure Them Nurturing Families (PDF - 201 KB)
Partnership to Protect Children and Strengthen Families (2007)
Lists Federal and State policy recommendations for financing child welfare services and addresses issues such as prevention, eligibility requirements, kinship and guardianship care, youth who age out of care, post-permanency, and the workforce.
The Cost and Benefits of Cash and Services to Kinship Caregivers
Dorch, Mumpower, & Jochnowitz
Social Work in Public Health, 23(6), 2008
View Abstract
Profiles one State's efforts to improve supplemental assistance to relative caregivers, including a discussion of policy implications for child safety, well-being, and placement permanence.
Helping Grandparents Raise Grandchildren Who Succeed (PDF - 132 KB)
Association of Small Foundations (2008)
Shares investment strategies for small foundations interested in supporting nonprofits serving vulnerable children and families.
Kinship Care Policies
Casey Family Programs & Child Trends (2010)
Offers state-specific information on licensure and financial assistance options for kin caregivers.
Making "Relative Search" Happen: A Guide to Finding and Involving Relatives at Every Stage of the Child Welfare Process (PDF - 460 KB)
ChildFocus (2007)
Includes a discussion that makes a case for reallocating funds to support relative searches and ways to make relative search manageable in child welfare systems.
Supporting Kinship Care: Research and Strategies to Promote and Fund Placement With Relatives [PowerPoint Presentation] (PDF - 632 KB)
Casey & Hurley (2009)
Discusses legislation, research findings, funding for kinship caregiver support, and strategies States can use to leverage available funding.
The Take-up of Cash Assistance Among Private Kinship Care Families
Sheran & Swann
Children and Youth Services Review, 29(8), 2007
View Abstract
Explores the relationships among child and caregiver characteristics and the receipt of cash assistance. The study determines that disadvantaged families are more likely to receive cash assistance than less disadvantaged families, but overall private kinship care take-up rates are low compared to other social programs.
State and local examples
Casey Family Programs Kinship Caregiver Navigator Pilot: Final Pilot Evaluation Report (PDF - 310 KB)
TriWest Group (2005)
Discusses a program that helps kinship caregivers understand and navigate the child welfare system, and how to reduce service-access barriers faced by kinship caregivers. Includes an exploration of program costs and benefits.
House Bill 2040: An Act Relating to Establishing a Kinship Guardian Assistance Program (PDF - 78 KB)
McCown (2009)
Presents the author's testimony before the Texas House of Representatives Human Services Committee. The testimony weighs the pros and cons of providing kinship care subsidies, discusses agency disagreements about cost savings, raises concerns that subsidies will grow and require a larger proportion of the total child protection budget, and closes with recommendations for strengthening the bill.
Kinship Permanency Incentive Program: Annual Report (PDF - 145 KB)
Ohio Office for Children and Families, Bureau of Automated Systems (2007)
Describes a program that provides time-limited incentive payments to eligible caregivers who accept legal custody or legal guardianship of kin children in order to promote a permanent commitment.
Overview and Preliminary Evaluation of the Relative Caregiver Assistance Program (PDF - 107 KB)
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (2008)
Summarizes a program that begin in late 2004 and presents early evaluation results of the effect of financial assistance for kin caregivers.