This page contains resources that describe the changing family dynamics in kinship families and how evolving relationships can impact relative caregivers and all family members. The page also includes resources on how to deal with family changes.
8 Crucial Tips for Kinship Adoption
Creating a Family (2018)
Presents tips for relative caregivers on how to smoothly integrate children into your family and links to related resources to make the change easier on children and caregivers.
Foster Care Placement Change: The Role of Family Dynamics and Household Composition
Waid, Kothari, Bank, & McBeath (2016)
Children and Youth Services Review, 68
Examines family dynamics across different living situations and finds that children placed in kinship care were most likely to achieve permanence. The results of this study show the need for additional research into the experience of children in different family living arrangements.
Foster Care to Adoption: Preparing Youths and Families for the Transition
Siegel (2018)
Social Work Today, 18(6)
Describes how children and relative caregivers can prepare for the transition from foster care to adoption. The article includes a discussion of helpful tools that can assist with the life change.
Foster or Adopted Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused
HealthyChildren.org (2019)
Provides information on establishing family guidelines for safety and privacy when it comes to parenting a child who has been sexually abused. The article lists tips for how the kinship family should behave and the impact abuse can have on the entire family.
Kinship Family Video Series
Capacity Building Center for States (2016)
Shares the experience of kinship caregivers throughout different points in the kinship care process. The video series includes the following four videos:
- You Get a Call, Do You Want These Kids?
- They Are My Daughters
- Creating a Sense of Belonging
- He Is an Extension of Me
Raising the Children of the Opioid Epidemic: Solutions and Support for Grandfamilies (PDF - 2,580 KB)
Generations United (2016)
Explores how the rise in heroin and opioid use has caused more children to be raised by grandparents or other relatives and examines challenges faced by kinship families in this situation. These types of family changes can lead to social, financial, physical, and mental health challenges.
Understanding Trauma
AdoptUSKids (2019)
Provides information on caring for children exposed to trauma, including how trauma affects their brains, bodies, behavior, and ways of thinking. Caregivers can also learn how to help their foster child recover and heal from trauma.