When a child in foster care experiences placement instability, it can have a significant negative impact on their overall well-being. Kinship care has become a preferred option in most U.S. child welfare systems, because it is the least restrictive and most family-like out-of-home placement for children, and those in kinship care environments have fewer disruptions and overall better permanency outcomes than those in nonfamilial placements. The resources below address practices and programs that promote stability and positive permanency outcomes for children in kinship care.

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
Hopkins (2020)
Juvenile Law Center
Focuses on the importance of prioritizing kinship care for Black and Native families to promote racial equity and permanency while ensuring a sense of culture and history within these families involved in the child welfare system.

How Can Guardianship Be Better Utilized to Promote Permanency and Well-Being?
Casey Family Programs (2021)
Explores the positive impacts of guardianship, such as maintained connections to kin, shorter time to permanency, and improved well-being outcomes for children and youth.

Kinship Care Is Better for Children and Families
Epstein (2017)
Child Law Practice Today, July/August
Examines efforts to remove barriers related to kinship placements, which allow relatives to care for children while maintaining family connections.

Kinship Guardianship as a Permanency Option

Series Title
State Statutes
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability
View
Download (PDF - 1,710KB)
Year Published
2019
Reviews State laws and policies that allow a family member or other person with close ties to a child who has been placed in out-of-home care to become that's child's permanent guardian. Guardianship has emerged as a permanency option for a child who has been placed in out-of-home care as it creates a legal relationship between a child and caregiver that is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining and can provide a permanent family for the child without the necessity of terminating the parents' parental rights. A guardian's rights and duties, approving a guardianship home, modifying or revoking a guardianship, and kinship guardianship assistance are among the issues addressed. Summaries of relevant laws for all States and U.S. territories are included.

Partnering With Relatives to Promote Reunification

Series Title
Factsheets for Families
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability
View
Download (PDF - 346KB)
Order (Free)
Disponibilidad
Ver
Versión para imprimir (PDF - 397KB)
Ordene (Gratis)
Year Published
2020
Shares stories and advice from caregivers and birth parents who have experienced kinship care on the importance of maintaining boundaries, managing family dynamics, building trust, positive parenting and communication, and securing support.

Using Family-Finding Models to Achieve Permanency [Webinar]
AdoptUSKids (2021)
Highlights effective approaches for engaging and finding families within the child welfare system in this two-part series. Part 2 is also available.

Why Should Child Protection Agencies Adopt a Kin-First Approach?
Casey Family Programs (2020)
Reviews the benefits of kinship care for children and youth, including placement stability and a higher likelihood of achieving guardianship permanency and maintaining lifelong connections with their family.

Youth Engagement Team: Recommendations for Improving Permanency and Well-Being (PDF - 3,986 KB)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (2021)
Provides recommendations pulled from roundtable discussions about how to support permanency with kin, relational permanency, and older youth adoption.

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