Resources address stability and permanency outcomes for children in kinship care, including State and local examples.
Achieving Permanence in Foster Care for Young Children: A Comparison of Kinship and Non-Kinship Placements
Pabustan-Claar (2007)
Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 16(1/2)
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Examines how the permanency goal under the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act is being implemented and identifies the total length of foster arrangements(kinship and nonkinship), the length of family maintenance services, and the number of care changes as the most important variables in determining family reunification and permanency.
Characteristics of Four Kinship Placement Outcome Groups and Variables Associated With These Kinship Placement Outcome Groups
Chang & Liles (2007)
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(6)
Investigates factors that might be associated with the disruptions in kinship care of abused and neglected children, characteristics of the children such as their health status, ages, and the extent to which they were getting into 'trouble' were significantly associated with outcomes.
Foster Family Characteristics, Kinship, and Permanence
Zinn (2009)
Social Service Review, 83(2)
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Reviews the relations between foster family demographic characteristics and children's permanency outcomes, which are found to differ between kinship and nonkinship families.
Matched Comparison of Children in Kinship Care and Foster Care on Child Welfare Outcomes (PDF - 171 KB)
Winokur, Crawford, Longobardi, & Valentine (2008)
Families in Society, 89(3)
Compares the permanency, safety, and stability outcomes for a matched group of children placed in kinship care and foster care.
State and local examples
Child Welfare Outcomes in Colorado: A Matched Comparison Between Children in Kinship and Foster Care. Final Report (PDF - 140 KB)
Winokur, Crawford, & Longobardi (2006)
Uses a matched case design to compare children in kinship care with children in foster care on available child welfare outcomes. Children in kinship care had significantly fewer disruptions and were almost eight times more likely to be in guardianship.
Permanency Outcomes of Children in Kinship and NonKinship Foster Care: Minimizing the Effects of Selection Bias with Propensity Score Matching (PDF - 328 KB)
Koh (2008)
Discusses the findings of a study that examined comprehensive permanency outcomes of children in kinship foster homes in comparison with those in nonkinship foster care, using Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting Systems (AFCARS) data from Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee.
Permanency Outcomes of Children in Kinship and Non-Kinship Foster Care: Testing the External Validity of Kinship Effects
Koh (2010)
Children and Youth Services Review, 32(3)
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Examines whether the effects of kinship care can be generalized across States by using Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data obtained for five States that participated in the Fostering Court Improvement project: Arizona, Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee.
Propensity Score Matching of Children in Kinship and Nonkinship Foster Care: Do Permanency Outcomes Still Differ?
Koh & Testa (2008)
Social Work Research, 32(2)
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Presents findings that suggest children in nonkinship foster homes show a higher risk for initial disruption after matching, but there is no difference in rates of instability within a year compared with children in kinship foster homes. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.