(Posted 2024 May)
A new report released by the Anne E. Casey Foundation, Family Ties: Analysis From a State-By-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies identifies efforts by states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers. Kinship care is when children, not able to live with their families, live with relatives or close family friends. These arrangements provide stability and connections that are vital to the development of children and youth, particularly for those who are involved with the child welfare system.
The report highlights progress made at reducing barriers to foster care licensing, long-standing inequities in financial assistance for kinship caregivers and new opportunities to address their needs.
A few of the key findings from the report include:
- A steady rise in kinship care. From 2007 to 2021, relative placements for youth and young people up to age 18 rose by 10% as a share of all foster care placements.
- The availability of aid and services does not appear to be based on need, but on whether the caregivers can become licensed foster parents.
- Many states are well positioned to implement a new federal rule that would simplify licensing for kin and would ensure licensed kinship caregivers receive the same financial support as non-relative foster parents.
In addition to the report, the survey’s policy data and analysis, collected in 2022 for the Casey Foundation by Child Trends, is being released throughout early 2024 in a five-part series of briefs addressing aspects of kinship care policy. The topics will include foster care licensing, support available for unlicensed caregivers, kinship diversion and states’ increasing investment in kinship navigator programs.
The Family Ties series is intended to help policymakers, advocates and child welfare administrators understand the existing resources for kinship caregivers, identify gaps and inform efforts to improve kinship care policies at the federal and state levels.
Source: A State Kinship Care Policy Analysis - The Annie E. Casey Foundation (aecf.org)
This article posting is part of the Foster Family News monthly newsletter designed to keep foster parents informed about all the new and notable happenings in Fairfax County.
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