Kinship Care | Better Care Network

Kinship Care

Kinship care is the full-time care of a child by a relative or another member of the extended family. This type of arrangement is the most common form of out of home care throughout the world and is typically arranged without formal legal proceedings. In many developing countries, it is essentially the only form of alternative family care available on a significant scale.

In the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, kinship care is the primary mechanism that has enabled a vast majority of children who have lost both parents to remain in family care in their community.

Kinship care offers many advantages over other forms of care for children not able to live with their parents. It allows family relationships to continue, maintains the child within her culture and community, and avoids the anxieties related to placements with unfamiliar adults.

Kinship care is more successful with immediate family members, rather than distant relatives. Children may be treated differently than the caretaker’s own children, and exploited, abused or denied access to education and health services. Kinship care has also been shown to result in the delayed reunification of a child and parents, either because the family is comfortable with the situation, there are financial disincentives for returning the child, or social services are less active in moving the case forward.

In order to reduce the incidence of such problems, the use of kinship care should be appropriately monitored by the local authority or a protection agency. Children in kinship care have a right to protection and family support services. However, it must be recognized that kinship care has a positive effect on many children's lives. Placing requirements on kinship arrangements that unnecessarily intefere with or interrupt this traditional caretaking practice should be avoided.

Kinship care may be an option for child protection agencies to consider when a child is without adequate family care. The decision to use kinship care will depend on what is in the child’s best interests, and should involve a careful assessment of the child’s opinions, the family’s ability to care for the child, and permanency planning in order to work towards timely family reunification. Financial support is an area for debate since, while it can enable a family to care for a child, it may also encourage relatives to keep a child for monetary gain.

The resources found in this section provide policy guidance and country examples on the use of kinship care.

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Kinship Care 3: The strength of the extended family / A força da família extensa

Family for Every Child, 27 Mar 2019

This is the 3rd and final presentation in the Kinship Care in Brazil mini-series. Here, Claudia Cabral of Associação Brasileira Terra dos Homens describes the importance of considering the extended family when making decisions about children’s care, and efforts to advocate to the Brazilian government.

Family for Every Child Online Presentation on Kinship Care in Brazil

Family for Every Child, 27 Mar 2019

Family for Every Child has shared three pre-recorded presentations to watch in advance of their Online Event on Kinship Care in Brazil on Wednesday 3 April at 13:00 UK time.

Kinship Care 1: Spotlight on Brazil / Foco no Brasil

Family for Every Child, 27 Mar 2019

This is the 1st presentation in our Kinship Care in Brazil mini-series. Here, Ana Angélica Campelo of Brazil’s Ministry of Citizenship, shares an overview of the social welfare system in Brazil and how kinship care fits within it.

ABLE: Inclusive Family-Based Care for Children with Disabilities

Better Care Network, 19 Mar 2019

Presented at the UN Human Rights Council side event on Promoting Quality Alternative Care for Children with Disabilities on 5 March 2019, this video highlights the work of ABLE, a program of the Cambodian NGO Children in Families that provides inclusive family-based care for children with disabilities.

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The subjective well-being of children in kinship care

Joan Llosada-Gistau, Ferran Casas, and Carme Montserrat - Psicothema, 11 Mar 2019

The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the subjective well-being of children at the age of 12 years old in kinship and residential care and in the general population, taking into account gender differences.

Full Transcript: "Promoting Inclusion In Family-Based Care" Speech Given at UN Human Rights Council Side Event on Promoting Quality Family and Community-Based Care for Children with Disabilities

Children in Families, 06 Mar 2019

Sreyny Sorn, manager of the ABLE Project at Children in Families, gave a presentation at a side event at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 5 March, 2019.

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The contribution of supervision orders and special guardianship to children’s lives and family justice

Professor Judith Harwin, Dr Bachar Alrouh, Ms Lily Golding, Ms Tricia McQuarrie, Professor Karen Broadhurst and Dr Linda Cusworth - Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University, 04 Mar 2019

This report is about the use of ‘family orders’ to support family reunification and placement with family and friends as outcomes of S31 care and supervision proceedings brought under the UK Children Act 1989. The over-arching aim of this study is to understand the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of these orders, and their use at national and regional level.

Country Care Review: Bahrain

Better Care Network, 27 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

State-level data for understanding child welfare in the United States

Child Trends, 26 Feb 2019

This resource compiles critical data from a variety of sources on children, youth, and families who came in contact with the US child welfare system in federal fiscal year (FY) 2017.

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Examining child trauma knowledge among kin caregivers: Implications for practice, policy, and research

J. Jay Miller, Eun Koh, Chunling Niu, Molly Bode, Shannon Moody - Children and Youth Services Review, 18 Feb 2019

This exploratory study investigated kinship (e.g., relative) caregivers' (N = 130) perceived and actual knowledge associated with child trauma.

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