State Advisory Council Kinship Recommendations

Mar 5

The following recommendations were developed and approved by the State Advisory Council for Adoption and Permanency. The Council is a convening of state adoption and permanency directors and other public agency staff from 43 states assembled by Voice for Adoption to develop consensus-based federal recommendations on adoption and permanency issues affecting children and youth in foster care.

Promoting and Supporting Kin Placements

When parents are unable to care for their children, grandparents and other relatives often step in to provide the care they need. Nationally, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 10.7 percent of all American children currently live with grandparents and other extended family.[1]

This is even more true for children in the foster care system. In 2022, over a third of children in foster care (34 percent) were placed with relatives.[2] These relatives frequently go on to provide a permanent home through adoption or guardianship.

This trend toward kinship placements has only increased in recent years. According to a recent survey of states by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, kin placements grew from 26 percent of foster care placements in 2007 to 35 percent in 2022.[3] More states now conduct robust searches to locate family caregivers. Other data shows similar increases in federal and state spending to support subsidized guardianship arrangements.[4]

Although much has been done to promote appropriate placements with kin, the following consensus-based federal recommendations would further support this goal.

Recommendations

Placement

Family Finding: Provide flexible, optional funding to states and counties to conduct family finding, engagement, and support both when the child first comes to the attention of the child welfare system and ongoing throughout the child’s involvement with the system.
Kin-first Placement: Support state implementation of policies that prioritize the placement of children removed from parents in safe and appropriate kin arrangements and that provide appropriate follow-up and supports,
Kinship Support Policies: Support the provision of information and other supports to kinship families when children are formally placed with kin, including information about their care arrangement options and any supports or benefits that may be available.
Licensing Standards: Support state implementation of separate licensing standards for kin caregivers consistent with existing federal rules to ensure kinship foster families receive adequate and equitable financial support for the children in their care.

Supports

Kinship Navigator Programs: Support the availability of statewide, effective kinship navigator programs and other outreach programs that provide information on, and assist with, applying for available resources and services. Support the use of kinship navigators by families outside of the foster care system.
Kinship Family Supports: Promote access to programs that meet kinship families’ mental health, social, and emotional needs, including peer-to-peer programs, peer-led support groups, trauma-informed mental health supports.
Respite Care: Promote and support robust respite networks and encourage innovative approaches to respite, such as summer camps and family fun nights.
Post-permanency Supports: Promote access to community-based, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate post-permanency supports, including available services through the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
Cross-System Collaboration: Promote collaboration across systems to increase kinship families’ access to existing services in other systems, including child welfare, aging, disability, education, housing, Medicaid, Medicare, nutrition, TANF, legal assistance, and other social services system agencies.

Training and Engagement

Workforce Training: Provide caseworkers, health care and mental health providers, educational providers, and kinship navigators with specialized training and resources on issues related to kinship families and the services and supports available to them.
Lived Experience: Provide training to support and effectively engage lived experts in a respectful, trauma-informed manner in policy and programmatic decision-making. Encourage government-funded research and evaluation to integrate lived expertise.

Other Recommendations

Interstate Placements: Streamline and address barriers to interstate placement for kinship families.
Legal Training: Provide funding to develop and incentivize training for attorneys, judges, and court professionals to better understand kinship families and ensure quality representation for children in kinship placements.

Approved March 4, 2025.

Notes

[1] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2023.

[2] U.S. Children’s Bureau AFCARS Report (2022).

[3] Annie E. Casey Foundation, "Family Ties: Analysis from a State-by-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies," 2024, pp. 4-5.

[4] John Kelly, "Kin Guardianship Spending Has Skyrocketed Since 2010," The Imprint, March 21, 2024.