Placement of Children With Relatives

This publication presents an overview of State laws that give priority or preference to a child's relatives when they need to be placed in out-of-home care. The issues addressed include locating relatives, determining the fitness of a relative to provide care, and requirements for licensure. Requirements for placing siblings together whenever possible and adoption by relatives also are addressed. This publication presents a general overview of this aspect of child welfare law. Summaries of laws on this topic for all individual States and U.S. territories are available from the State Statutes Search page.

Suggested Citation: Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2022). Placement of children with relatives. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/placement/

This publication is a product of the State Statutes Series prepared by Child Welfare Information Gateway. While every attempt has been made to be as complete as possible, additional information on these topics may be in other sections of a State's code as well as agency regulations, case law, and informal practices and procedures.

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.