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
Partnering With Relatives to Promote Reunification
The Unique Dynamics of Shared/Co-Parenting in Kinship Families [Video]
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network (2023)
Presents information to help child welfare professionals identify how kin caregivers use their strengths to protect, nurture, and stabilize the children in their care. This training touches on shared and coparenting strategies that provide well-being, safety, and stability for children in the care of kin caregivers. View Dr. Joseph Crumbley’s website for more information about the six-part training series Inherent Strengths in Kinship Families.
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.