When in-home care is not feasible, placing a child with relatives or kin is the preferred option as it can minimize trauma and help children and youth maintain connections to their family, their community, and their cultural roots. When seeking out kinship placements for a child, a strong emphasis should be placed on providing culturally appropriate services to support the caregivers and families. The resources below provide information about how child welfare professionals can be culturally responsive to the needs of diverse kinship families, support caregivers in developing a culturally inclusive approach to parenting, and discuss the positive impact culturally appropriate trainings and services and equitable supports to kin caregivers can have on placement stability and permanency outcomes for children and families.

African American Grandfamilies: Helping Children Thrive Through Connection to Family and Culture
Generations United (2020)
Provides tips and resources so organizations can better serve grandfamilies by utilizing their strengths and minimizing the challenges they face. 

American Indian & Alaska Native Grandfamilies: Helping Children Thrive Through Connection to Family and Cultural Identity 
Generations United and National Indian Child Welfare Association (2020)
Offers resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations so they can better serve all American Indian and Alaska Native grandfamilies regardless of their involvement with child welfare.

Disproportionality and Race Equity in Child Welfare 
National Conference of State Legislatures (2021)
Defines the primary factors that contribute to disproportionality and disparity of racial groups and low-income families involved in the child welfare system as well as strategies to address it.

Family Preservation Matters: Why Kinship Care for Black Families, Native American Families, and other Families of Color Is Critical to Preserve Culture and Restore Family Bonds 
Juvenile Law Center (2020)
Focuses on the importance of prioritizing kinship care for Black and Native families to promote racial equity and ensure a sense of culture and history within these families involved in the child welfare system. 

The Indian Child Welfare Act for Kin Caregivers and Foster Parents (PDF - 245 KB)
Judicial Council of California (2017)
Explains the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the rights of children and families covered under ICWA, and how foster or kinship caregivers can work with those families.

Kinship Care in Pennsylvania: Creating an Equitable System for Families
Pennsylvania Partnership for Children (2021)
Identifies ways to ensure that when children or youth must be removed from the home, they remain with kin to ensure they are keeping connections to their community and culture to ultimately improve permanency outcomes.

Resources for Grandparents: Targeted Resources for Tribal Child Welfare (PDF - 75 KB)
Capacity Building Center for Tribes (2017)
Provides resources and other important information for Native grandparents and other kinship caregivers.

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