Kin­ship pol­i­cy improve­ments in federal and state child wel­fare sys­tems

Source:

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Summary:

Kin­ship Pol­i­cy Improve­ments Toward Child Wel­fare Sys­tem Trans­for­ma­tions, the final brief in the Fam­i­ly Ties series (see below), sum­ma­rizes how kin­ship poli­cies have dra­mat­i­cal­ly changed since 2007. As child wel­fare agen­cies increas­ing­ly pri­or­i­tize kin when chil­dren must be removed from their homes, more states are explor­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to reduce bar­ri­ers to fos­ter home licen­sure for kin, — noti­fy­ing kin soon­er, col­lect­ing data around kin­ship care and con­sult­ing with kin to inform decisions.

How­ev­er, sig­nif­i­cant con­cerns remain, as pre­vi­ous reports in the series detail. Steep dis­par­i­ties per­sist in sup­port offered to kin­ship care­givers, such as those in diver­sion arrange­ments or unli­censed kin­ship care. For exam­ple, only 23 of the 46 states respond­ing to the ini­tial sur­vey report­ed pro­vid­ing finan­cial assis­tance for unli­censed care­givers, com­pared to 44 that pro­vide it for licensed care­givers. While most states (40) con­firmed hav­ing a kin­ship nav­i­ga­tor pro­gram, only 28 offer them statewide, lim­it­ing access for many care­givers who sud­den­ly face nav­i­gat­ing the com­plex­i­ties of the child wel­fare system.

“With state-by-state pol­i­cy infor­ma­tion and recent fed­er­al pol­i­cy changes, child wel­fare admin­is­tra­tors have a tremen­dous oppor­tu­ni­ty to improve their approach­es to engag­ing and sup­port­ing kin,” said Todd Lloyd, senior asso­ciate for Child Wel­fare Pol­i­cy at the Foun­da­tion. ​“Increas­es in kin­ship care and guardian­ship over the past 15 years demon­strate the poten­tial to help chil­dren remain with fam­i­ly when­ev­er pos­si­ble now and for gen­er­a­tions to come.”

Kin­ship Pol­i­cy Improve­ments Toward Child Wel­fare Sys­tem Trans­for­ma­tions notes key data gaps exist that could inform address­ing dis­par­i­ties, includ­ing the need for more agen­cies to mon­i­tor and eval­u­ate the out­comes of kin­ship diver­sion arrange­ments to ensure children’s safe­ty and pro­tect par­ents’ legal rights. Over­all, more can be done to include and sup­port kin who are step­ping in to care for chil­dren as well as those inform­ing and lead­ing sys­tem improvement.

Key Findings

Enthusiasm for developing policies that promote and support kinship care has accelerated since 2007, fueled in part by new federal funding and regulations. Findings from the 2022 survey show robust implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 — with most states (37) allowing the waiver of certain licensing standards for kin, 12 states requiring relatives be notified more quickly than the federal requirement of 30 days after the removal of a child and most states requiring family team meetings at some point in a case.

Although there has been positive change since 2007, service disparities related to kinship diversion arrangements and unlicensed versus licensed caregivers remain. Additionally, child welfare agencies can and should do more to engage and partner with kinship caregivers for policy improvements.

Youth, kin and parents who have experienced the child welfare system are best positioned to understand what problems exist and inform policy and practice solutions. Along with collecting comprehensive, disaggregated data to better understand and close the gap on disparities, jurisdictions should regularly consult with people with personal experience, letting their ideas drive reform efforts. Importantly, people with personal experience should be appropriately compensated for the work they do to inform systems change.

Key Takeaways

To build on the progress made since the 2007 sur­vey, child wel­fare admin­is­tra­tors can do the following:

• • reduce bar­ri­ers to licens­ing and encour­age juris­dic­tions to adopt kin-spe­cif­ic licens­ing standards;
  • pro­vide equi­table finan­cial sup­port for every child in the cus­tody of the child wel­fare agency, regard­less of care­giv­er licen­sure status;
  • update kin­ship diver­sion poli­cies to address con­cerns about access to ser­vices and parental deci­sion making;
  • ensure every kin­ship care­giv­er has access to kin­ship navigation;
  • col­lect and use com­pre­hen­sive data for every type of kin­ship care arrange­ment; and
  • include kin­ship care­givers in pol­i­cy design and imple­men­ta­tion and com­pen­sate them for their time.

The oth­er four briefs in the Fam­i­ly Ties series examine:

• • poli­cies that sup­port licen­sure of kin­ship fos­ter par­ents;
  • poli­cies that affect unli­censed kin­ship care­givers;
  • poli­cies that gov­ern kin­ship diver­sion; and
  • poli­cies that encour­age agen­cies to engage and part­ner with kin­ship care­givers, the chil­dren in their care and par­ents.

READ FULL REPORT →

[Related Report: Survey of kinship care policies shows the need for better data collection by states]

[Related: [Q&A: Beth Tyson on helping kinship families rebuild trust, fight stigma]

[Related: Q&A: Sixto Cancel on prioritizing kinship care for foster youth]

[Related: When grandparents raise grandkids]

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