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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Health and Well-Being of Children in Kinship Care: Findings from the National Survey of Children in Nonparental Care

Matthew D. Bramlett, Laura F. Radel and Kirby Chow - Child Welfare Journal, 01 May 2017

This study from the the Special Issue on Kinship Care of the Child Welfare Journal uses nationally representative survey data to describe differences in characteristics, adverse family experiences, and child well-being among children in kinship care with varying levels of involvement with the child welfare system in the US.

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Child Welfare Volume 95, Number 3 & Number 4: Kinship Care and Child Welfare: New Directions for Policy and Practice

Child Welfare Journal - Child Welfare League of America, 01 May 2017

This two-part special issue of the Child Welfare Journal focuses on children in kinship care—those who are being raised by grandparents, aunts and uncles, older siblings, and non-related extended family members—to bring attention to this less visible area of public child welfare, featuring policy-based and empirical research on kinship families.

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Supporting Kinship Caregivers: Examining the Impact of a Title IV-E Waiver Kinship Supports Intervention

Cailin Wheeler and Justin Vollet - Child Welfare Journal, 01 May 2017

This study from the Special Issue on Kinship Care of the Child Welfare Journal examined the impact of a kinship supports intervention implemented in 16 children services agencies in the US.

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Understanding Latino Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Through a Bioecological Lens

Angela Nancy Mendoza, Christine A. Fruhauf, Kimberly Bundy-Fazioli, Joyce Weil - The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 17 Apr 2017

The purpose of this article is to provide a summary of the published research addressing the challenges and strengths of Latino grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States.

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A national comparison of carer screening, assessment, selection and training and support in foster, kinship and residential care

Murray Benton, Rohan Pigott, Megan Price, Patrick Shepherdson, & Dr Gail Winkworth - The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, 01 Mar 2017

In June 2015, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse conducted public hearings in relation to out‑of‑home care (OOHC) and allegations of child sexual abuse occurring in OOHC settings (Case Study 24). In December 2015, the Royal Commission commissioned this national research report.

Spain: Country Fact Sheet

Opening Doors for Europe's Children, 01 Mar 2017

This country fact sheet highlights the care reforms that Spain has instituted over the past few years. This sheet also provides short facts and the latest developments on children in alternative care in Spain.

Supporting children and families affected by a family member’s offending – A Practitioner’s Guide

Lindsay Sutherland and Polly Wright - Barnardo's, i-HOP, Department for Education, 01 Feb 2017

The aim of this guide is to enable practitioners to support children affected by a family member’s offending within a whole family approach.

Sexual Behavior Among Orphaned Adolescents in Western Kenya: A Comparison of Institutional and Family-Based Care Settings

L. Embleton, J. Nyandat, D. Ayuku, E. Sang, A. Kamanda, S. Ayaya, W. Nyandiko, P. Gisore, R. Vreeman, L. Atwoli, O. Galarraga, M. A. Ott, P. Braitstein — Journal of Adolescent Health, 16 Jan 2017

The attached study compared the care environments of family-based care and institutional care to determine if care environment contributed to differences in sexual behavior and/or sexual exploitation of orphaned and separated adolescents.

Placing Children with Relatives: The Case for a Clear Rationale for Separate Foster Care Licensing Standards, Background Check Procedures, and Improved Relative Placement Statutes in Alaska

Courtney Lewis - Alaska Law Review, 2017

This Article argues that Alaska should adopt a threestep approach to achieve better outcomes based on the American Bar Association’s model licensing standards, which are narrowly tailored to evaluate whether a child should be placed with a relative.

Study on alternative care community practices for children in Cambodia

Carolyn Hamilton, Kara Apland, Maurice Dunaiski and Elizabeth Yarrow - Coram Children’s Legal Centre, 2017

This study commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation of the Kingdom of Cambodia and UNICEF Cambodia sheds light on how different forms of alternative care are being used in the community.