Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS

800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov

WHAT’S INSIDE

Trends in kinship care

Types of kinship care

Benefits of kinship care

How to support kinship 

caregivers

Training caseworkers 

and caregivers

Examples of State and 

local kinship programs

Conclusion

Additional resources 

References

BULLETIN FOR 

PROFESSIONALS

June 2018

Working With Kinship 

Caregivers

Kinship care is the full-time care and nurturing 

of a child by a relative or someone with a 

significant emotional connection to the child, 

such as a close family friend, when parents 

are not able to provide care. When out-ofhome care is needed, kinship care is the 

preferred option because it can reduce trauma 

and help children maintain family bonds, a 

sense of belonging, and their identity. Many 

kinship families provide care outside of the 

formal foster care system and therefore may 

not be aware of their eligibility for resources 

and services to help them be successful.

The growing need for kinship families and 

related support services has led many States 

to launch kinship awareness campaigns to 

recognize the tremendous contribution these 

caregivers make, the challenges they face, and 

the help they need. This bulletin highlights 

supports and services for kinship caregivers, 

training for caseworkers and caregivers, and 

examples of successful kinship care programs. 
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

2

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Trends in Kinship Care

Over the last several years, there has been an increase 

in the number of children living with extended family or 

close family friends (without any parents in the home), 

from an average of roughly 2.4 million children during 

2010–2012 to an average of almost 2.6 million children 

during 2013–2015 (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2017). 

The Social Security Act’s Title IV-E foster care program 

requires State and Tribal agencies to exercise due 

diligence when a child is removed from his or her home 

by identifying and notifying all adult relatives within 30 

days of the removal. The law also requires child welfare 

agencies to consider giving preference to an adult 

relative over a non-related caregiver when determining a 

placement for a child, provided that the relative caregiver 

meets all relevant State child protection standards. 

According to the 2017 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis 

Reporting System report, Federal statistics for the last 

day of Federal fiscal year 2016 show that 32 percent of 

all children in foster care resided in a relative’s home 

(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

Administration for Children and Families, Administration 

on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau, 2017).

Generations United, a national advocacy organization for 

children, youth, and older adults, offers the following in a 

2017 report:

 Approximately 3.5 percent of all children in the United

States (almost 2.6 million) are being raised in some

form of kinship care where there is no birth parent in

the home.1

 For every child in kinship foster care, there are 20

children being raised by relatives outside the child

welfare system.2

1 Generations United calculated this figure based on the following two data 

sources: (1) The Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center. 2014–

2016 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement 

(CPS ASEC). Children in Kinship Care. (2) U.S. Census Bureau. 2014–2016 CPS 

ASEC. Estimates represent a 3-year average.

2 Generations United calculated this figure based on the following two data 

sources: (1) The Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center. 2014–

2016 CPS ASEC. (2) U.S. Census Bureau. 2014–2016 CPS ASEC. Estimates 

represent a 3-year average.

Kinship care has become increasingly important for 

families battling addiction. In Ohio, for example, where 

drug addiction has been recognized as a major factor 

in children entering out-of-home care, the number of 

children the child welfare system has placed with relatives 

increased 62 percent between 2010 and 2017 (Public 

Children Services Association of Ohio, 2017).

Types of Kinship Care

Kinship care arrangements fall into three categories: (1) 

informal kinship care without child welfare involvement; 

(2) voluntary kinship care in which the child welfare agency

is involved, but the State or Tribe does not have child

welfare agency oversight; and (3) formal kinship care, in

which a child welfare agency has legal custody and places

a child with relatives or kin in a foster care arrangement.

Informal Kinship Care

The vast majority of kinship care arrangements occur 

outside the child welfare system. These informal 

arrangements are often made by family members without 

the involvement of the child welfare or juvenile court 

systems and are sometimes referred to as either informal 

or private kinship care (Walsh, 2013). For example, a 

parent may require inpatient addiction treatment and 

leave children with a grandparent, aunt, or uncle while 

they are in treatment. In informal kinship care, parents 

retain legal custody of the children and can take them 

back at any time. Parents also maintain legal authority for 

all decisions related to their children’s medical treatment 

and education or special education needs. In some 

cases, relatives may care for children indefinitely and may 

ultimately obtain legal custody, temporary guardianship, 

or even adopt the children through family and/or probate 

courts.
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

3

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Voluntary Kinship Care

Another form of kinship care may occur when children 

who are known to the child welfare agency are placed 

with relatives without the State or Tribe assuming legal 

custody and oversight responsibility. In these cases the 

child welfare agency has determined that the children 

may live safely with relatives without further monitoring 

and oversight, and, therefore, the agency does not take 

responsibility for the care or placement of the child. This 

practice is also sometimes known as “diversion.” In some 

cases, a court may have placed children with relatives, 

and in others, the child welfare agency arranges for a 

placement without any court involvement. Depending 

on the State and the circumstances, the legal custody 

may remain with the parents, or the parents may sign 

over temporary custody—referred to as temporary 

guardianship—to the kin caregivers. In States and 

situations where the kin caregiver has temporary 

guardianship, the caregiver can usually make decisions 

about education and medical matters, although parents 

should be included, when appropriate. For more 

information on the legal conditions of guardianship, see 

Standby Guardianship (https://www.childwelfare.gov/

topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/guardianship/) 

in Child Welfare Information Gateway’s State Statutes 

series and the Resources for Kinship Caregivers: Legal and 

Financial Information webpage (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/resourcesforcaregivers/

legalinfo/).

Formal Kinship Care

Relatives and kin may serve as a child’s foster family home 

when a child comes into foster care under the placement 

and care of a State or Tribe. This type of arrangement is 

often referred to as either “formal” or “public” kinship 

care. Relative foster homes may be either licensed or 

unlicensed, depending on State licensing requirements 

and family preferences. Some kinship foster caregivers 

are unlicensed. They do not receive the same monthly 

subsidies. 

Licensed kinship foster care most closely resembles 

nonrelative foster care in its structured involvement with 

a child welfare agency and access to services. In licensed 

kinship foster care, children are placed in legal custody 

of the State by a judge, and the child welfare system 

then places the child with grandparents or other family 

members. Licensed kinship caregivers, like nonrelated 

foster care and other resource parents, receive monthly 

subsidies to help with expenses and are required to 

undergo licensure and training, including a home 

approval process. Although these relatives must meet 

the same licensing standards as nonrelatives, the Federal 

title IV-E program allows States the option of waiving 

non-safety-related licensing standards for relatives on a 

case-by-case basis. 

The licensing status of a relative or kinship foster family 

home can affect permanency options for a child in foster 

care, since eligibility for the optional title IV-E kinship 

guardianship assistance program is tied, in part, to the 

child having lived with the relative in a licensed foster 

care placement for at least six consecutive months. For 

more information, visit the Children’s Bureau Title IV-E 

Guardianship Assistance webpage at https://www.acf.hhs.

gov/cb/resource/title-iv-e-guardianship-assistance and 

Information Gateway’s Subsidized Guardianship webpage 

at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/management/

funding/program-areas/kinship/subsidized/. See also 

Kinship Caregivers and the Child Welfare System at 

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f-kinshi/, and for more 

State-specific materials, see Information Gateway’s State 

Guides and Manuals Search (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/topics/systemwide/sgm/). 
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

4

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Benefits of Kinship Care

Research shows that children benefit from kinship care 

in many ways. Kinship care can reduce the trauma that 

children may have previously endured and the trauma that 

accompanies parental separation by providing them with a 

sense of stability and belonging in an otherwise unsettling 

time. Children who have been placed with relatives may 

have experienced chronic neglect and physical, sexual, or 

emotional abuse. While these experiences place children 

at risk for behavioral and health problems, a positive 

relationship with a caregiver and a stable and supportive 

living environment can mitigate their impact (Center on 

the Developing Child, 2007). Grandparents, other relative 

caregivers, and “fictive kin”—close friends holding a 

family-like bond with a child—are in a unique position to 

fill this supportive role and promote resiliency (Generations 

United, 2017).

Kinship care has the following additional benefits:

 Ongoing connections with a child’s birth family, 

extended family, siblings, and community—bonds that 

are essential to well-being

 Preservation of cultural identity (Generations United, 

2016)

 Higher likelihood siblings will remain together 

 Greater placement stability than for children in other 

out-of-home care arrangements (Winokur & Drendel, 

2010)

How to Support Kinship Caregivers

Children in out-of-home care are more likely to have better 

social and mental health outcomes when their caregivers 

can access a wide variety of services, such as financial 

assistance and related public benefits, case management, 

legal assistance, support groups, respite care, and mental 

health counseling and treatment (Generations United, 

2017). Kinship caregivers outside the child welfare system 

often request fewer services than licensed foster parents 

(James Bell Associates [JBA], 2013), either because they do 

not realize they are eligible for support services (Annie E. 

Casey Foundation, 2012b) or because eligibility, application 

requirements, and the necessary legal documentation are 

confusing and cumbersome (Cooper & Donovan, 2014).

Caseworkers can help promote a “kin-first” culture by 

tailoring services to the needs of local kinship families, 

promoting kinship placement, and helping children in 

foster care maintain their family connections (American 

Bar Association [ABA] Center on Children and the Law, 

ChildFocus, & Generations United, 2017). The ABA’s 

Center on Children and the Law, ChildFocus, and 

Generations United produced “wikiHow for Kinship Foster 

Care” with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. 

The wikiHow tool offers strategies for developing a kinfirst culture and is available at http://www.grandfamilies.

org/wikiHow-for-Kinship-Foster-Care.

Helping Kinship Caregivers Understand 

Options

As with any out-of-home care placement, caseworkers 

should work with prospective kinship caregivers to fully 

disclose a child’s needs and situation and allow the 

potential caregiver and child welfare agency to make the 

best possible placement decision for the child.

Caseworkers should provide potential kinship caregivers 

with information on the foster care provider options in the 

State and thoroughly discuss each option, including the 

requirements for becoming a licensed foster home and its 

associated benefits. Kinship caregivers should be aware 

of all permanency options, including guardianship.

Caseworkers should also provide information to relative 

caregivers about the court process, the different types of 

hearings, court procedures, and the caregiver’s role in any 

court proceedings. See Information Gateway’s webpage, 

Resources for Kinship Caregivers: Legal and Financial 

Information (https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/

outofhome/kinship/resourcesforcaregivers/legalinfo/). 

For more information on State laws that give priority 

or preference to relatives when children are in need 

of out-of-home care, read Child Welfare Information 

Gateway’s Placement of Children With Relatives at https://

www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/

statutes/placement/. 
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

5

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Home Study Requirements for Prospective Foster Parents 

includes information about State laws and policies for 

licensing or approving family foster homes, including 

laws about standards, the approval process, kinship 

foster care, and interjurisdictional approval. Read more 

at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/

laws-policies/statutes/homestudyreqs/. 

Assessing for Strengths and Needs

The child welfare agency assesses the strengths and 

needs of the kinship caregiver. The Child Welfare League 

of America (CWLA) recommends assessments evaluate 

the following (CWLA, 2000):

 The nature and quality of the relationships between 

the kinship caregiver, child, parents, and other relatives 

 The physical, emotional, and mental health of the 

kinship family 

 The kinship caregiver’s ability to meet the child’s 

developmental and educational needs, including any 

special needs

 The predicted length of time the child will be placed in 

the kinship home 

 How long the kinship caregiver is willing to have the 

child in the home

 The kinship caregiver’s current resources and support 

system

 The willingness and ability of the kinship caregiver to 

comply with the child welfare agency and associated 

safety and case plans

 Other family members who can assist with the 

responsibility of caring for the child 

Considering Kin-Specific 

Concerns

The Division of Child Welfare Services in 

Arlington County, Virginia, has created a special 

kinship assessment protocol that considers 

kin-specific concerns when making placements. 

The assessment covers issues that help to make 

kinship care successful, such as the configuration 

of the household, caregiver motivations, and 

family relationships. Rather than focusing solely 

on the number of bedrooms or bathrooms in a 

potential kinship home, the assessment considers 

a caregiver’s abilities to set healthy emotional 

boundaries with the birth parent, the child 

entering out-of-home care, and extended family 

members. Questions for potential caregivers in 

the initial kinship assessment include how they 

manage stress, whether they have concerns 

or fears about maintaining connections with 

the most important individuals in the child’s or 

children’s lives, and what the child or children 

entering care might need that is different from 

what their own children needed (L. Friedman, 

personal communication, October 23, 2017).

Arlington County has increased its emphasis 

on related trainings for kinship caregivers, 

employing kinship expert Joseph Crumbley’s 

approach, which emphasizes family dynamics 

and the importance of considering preexisting 

relationships when placing a child in kinship 

care—conditions that are nonexistent in 

traditional foster care (L. Friedman, personal 

communication, October 23, 2017). 

For more information, see Dr. Crumbley’s website 

at http://www.drcrumbley.com/index.html) and his 

2017 video series, Engaging Kinship Caregivers: 

Managing Risk Factors in Kinship Care, which is 

available through the Annie E. Casey Foundation 

(http://www.aecf.org/blog/engaging-kinshipcaregivers-with-joseph-crumbley/).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

6

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Using Family-Centered Practice

Family-centered practice that actively involves family 

members in caregiving and placement decisions may 

make kinship care more successful by expanding 

placement options and giving the family ownership 

(i.e., family members can determine who they deem the 

best candidate for the primary caregiving responsibility, 

the secondary backup person, etc.). Family partnership 

meetings, family group decision-making (FGDM), and 

team decision-making models are all part of familycentered practice. This approach can help caseworkers 

recognize a family’s strengths and understand its needs. 

The Children’s Bureau awarded seven Family Connection 

demonstration grants in 2011 to measure the 

effectiveness of FGDM when working with families. A 

synthesis of reports from 2011 grantees recommends the 

following to remove barriers to family involvement (Child 

Welfare Information Gateway, 2017): 

 Provide training for as many caseworkers as possible to 

promote a more family-centered approach

 Examine caseload management issues to identify areas 

that can be improved

 Locate staff who can promote the family-centered 

approach in child welfare offices

 Promote a family-centered agency culture

Visit Information Gateway’s webpages, Using Family 

Group Decision-Making to Build Protective Factors for 

Children and Families (https://www.childwelfare.gov/

topics/management/funding/funding-sources/federalfunding/cb-funding/cbreports/fgdm/) and Resources 

for Kinship Caregivers: Changing Family Dynamics 

(https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/

resourcesforcaregivers/familydynamics/) to find resources 

related to FGDM and the impact of kinship care on 

caregivers and family members.

Working With the Kinship Caregiver to 

Develop a Permanency Plan

Caseworkers should be prepared to facilitate the 

relationship between the kinship caregivers and the birth 

parents and openly discuss the possibility of a longterm or permanent placement for the child. Caseworkers 

should also ensure that caregivers are knowledgeable 

about the court process as well as services that would be 

available should the kinship care arrangement become 

permanent. 

A 2009 Children’s Bureau grantee, the Rhode Island 

Partnership for Family Connections, found that 

developing and supporting kinship connections made 

a significant contribution in achieving permanency for 

children in kinship care. The report concluded that 

support for kinship caregivers is essential to increasing 

the number of kinship homes. The final report is available 

through the Children’s Bureau Discretionary Grants library 

(grant #90CF0015 at https://library.childwelfare.gov/

cbgrants/ws/library/docs/cb_grants/PISearch).

In cases where kinship caregivers choose not to pursue 

permanency through adoption, guardianship—including 

subsidized guardianship—offers an opportunity to 

assume responsibility for the child without the termination 

of parental rights. This may support cultural norms and be 

easier for some families to accept.

Many States provide kinship caregivers with written and/

or electronic information pertaining to the permanency 

options for the child in their care. Consult Information 

Gateway’s database of State Guides and Manuals 

(https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/sgm/) 

for State-specific details. For more information, see 

Kinship Guardianship as a Permanency Option, a 2014 

update to Information Gateway’s State Statutes Series 

(https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/lawspolicies/statutes/kinshipguardianship/) and Information 

Gateway’s webpage, Resources for Kinship Caregivers: 

Establishing Permanency (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/resourcesforcaregivers/

establishingpermanency/).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

7

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Accessing Services

Caseworkers should provide information to kinship 

caregivers on financial resources and other supportive 

services. Kinship caregivers may not seek available 

services due to unfamiliarity with their availability or a 

reluctance to access help. Several factors may influence 

whether caregivers access services, including child 

behavioral or emotional problems, caregiver mental 

health, social supports, perceived need for services, 

availability and accessibility of resources, and service 

provider characteristics (Coleman & Wu, 2016).

Kinship Navigator Programs

Many States have launched kinship navigator programs 

to create a single point of entry to connect relative 

caregivers with a range of supportive services. These 

initiatives have provided information, referral, and 

follow-up services to grandparents and other relatives 

raising children either inside or outside the child welfare 

system. The navigator programs have also promoted 

partnerships among public, private, and communitybased agencies to broaden access to kinship-related 

services, such as financial and legal assistance, case 

management, emotional support, FGDM and related 

services, and a variety of supports for children. 

Permanency rates have increased as a result through 

guardianship and reunification with parents (JBA, 2013).

Kinship navigators are most effective when they have the 

following strengths (JBA, 2013):

 Knowledge of community resources and services

 Listening skills

 Compassion and empathy

 Experience with the child welfare system

 Case management skills

A 2017 Child Welfare Information Gateway podcast 

series featured successful kinship navigator programs 

in California and Florida that were designed to identify 

kinship caregivers outside the child welfare system and 

connect them with available services. Listen to the twopart series to learn how technological innovations can 

connect more kinship caregivers to services:

 “Supporting Kinship Caregivers, Part 1” (https://

www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/child-welfare-podcastsupporting-kinship-caregivers-part1)

 “Supporting Kinship Caregivers, Part 2” (https://

www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/child-welfare-podcastsupporting-kinship-caregivers-part2) 

Additional information on supporting kinship caregivers 

and examples of kinship navigator programs are 

available on the Information Gateway webpage 

Finding and Providing Support for Kinship Caregivers 

at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/

kinship/findsupport/. Find information on State kinship 

care contacts on Information Gateway’s Related 

Organizations webpage (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/organizations/?CWIGFunctionsaction=rols:main.

dspList&rolType=Custom&RS_ID=148).

Financial Support

Adding children to a household is expensive. Many 

kinship families report food insecurity, inadequate 

housing, and insufficient child care assistance, and, in 

2011, 38 percent lived below the poverty line (Annie E. 

Casey Foundation, 2012b). In addition to the resources 

listed below, kinship caregivers may also be eligible 

for child care and housing assistance as well as help 

with health-care expenses for children in their care. 

Information Gateway’s webpage, Resources for Kinship 

Caregivers: Legal and Financial Information (https://

www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/

resourcesforcaregivers/legalinfo/), includes a list of 

available resources and State and local examples. 
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

8

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

The following financial assistance is generally available.

The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) 

program provides a monthly subsidy to eligible kinship 

caregivers, commonly called a “child-only” grant. While 

relatives caring for a child do not need to have legal 

custody to apply for TANF benefits, they must meet their 

State’s TANF definition of a kinship caregiver. In most 

States, caregivers are able to receive the TANF childonly grants (these are significantly lower than foster care 

payments). Children whose caregivers are eligible for 

TANF are also eligible for Medicaid and may be eligible 

for assistance with child care costs. 

The New York State Kinship Care Navigator County 

Collaboration Project (www.nysnavigator.org), funded 

through a 2012 Children’s Bureau Family Connections 

grant, established a “Kinship Corps” composed of peer 

mentors who provided a pro bono attorney network to 

assist with legal issues and TANF access. The program 

required county child welfare agencies to complete 

a permission-to-contact form to allow kinship navigators to contact caregivers and walk them through 

the process of obtaining TANF child-only grants. The 

program succeeded in helping more than 400 caregivers in five counties access benefits. For more information, see the April 2016 Children’s Bureau site visit 

report (https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/nykinship.pdf). See also Grand Resources: A Fact Sheet for 

Relative Caregivers to Help Access Support Through 

the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program 

from Generations United (http://www.gu.org/LinkClick.

aspx?fileticket=ZBNaB6jZmDQ%3d&tabid=157&mid=606). 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

benefits, formerly known as food stamps, are available 

to families with incomes below a certain level. In this 

case, the entire household’s income is considered, and 

the relative children can be included in family size for 

determining the benefit amount. Less than half of lowincome kinship families receive SNAP assistance even 

though a majority reports food insecurity (Annie E. Casey 

Foundation, 2012b).

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) may be available 

to children or caregivers who are disabled. Information 

about SSI benefits is available from the local Social 

Security office or online (http://www.ssa.gov/ssi). 

Benefits.gov is a Federal government website that 

allows caregivers to answer questions to determine their 

eligibility for Federal programs in their State (https://www.

benefits.gov).

National Family Caregiver Support Program 

(NFCSP), administered by the U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services Administration for 

Community Living, provides funds to States to offer 

support to grandparents or persons aged 55 and over 

who are raising children as well as family caregivers 

of older individuals. Support includes information 

about accessing available services, training, respite 

care, and individual counseling and support groups. 

For more information, visit the NFCSP webpage 

(https://www.acl.gov/programs/support-caregivers/

national-family-caregiver-support-program). 

Foster care payments are available for licensed kinship 

caregivers who are raising children under the placement 

and care of a child welfare agency. Child welfare agencies 

should inform kinship families about the licensing 

process and the related financial support and benefits 

offered to nonrelative foster parents. While licensing 

regulations, such as physical space requirements, 

might prevent kinship caregivers from being approved 

as licensed caregivers, many States allow waivers for 

requirements that do not directly impact child safety 

(Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012b). Model licensing 

standards developed by the ABA Center on Children and 

the Law, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Generations 

United, and the National Association for Regulatory 

Administration (NARA) attempt to address unnecessary 

barriers to licensure. More information on the Model 

Foster Family Licensing Standards can be found on 

the NARA website (http://www.naralicensing.org/

model-family-foster-home-licensing-standards).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

9

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP) payments, 

also referred to as Kin-GAP, are an option in many States 

and some Tribes. For States and Tribes that have opted 

to participate in the program, GAP provides title IV-E 

funding to help expand permanency options through 

financial support for eligible children and youth placed 

in permanent legal guardianship arrangements with 

relatives. GAP payments are used to support eligible 

children discharged from foster care to legal guardianship 

because they cannot return home or be adopted, or to 

support their siblings in certain situations as specified 

in the statute. The responsible title IV-E State or Tribal 

agency must determine eligibility including, but not 

limited to, the following:

 There are no other appropriate permanency options 

for the child.

 The child shows a strong attachment to the 

prospective guardian.

 The relative guardian has a strong commitment to the 

child’s permanent care.

 Any children aged 14 or over are consulted regarding 

the potential kinship guardianship.

For more information, visit the Children’s Bureau Title IV-E 

Guardianship Assistance webpage at https://www.acf.hhs.

gov/cb/resource/title-iv-e-guardianship-assistance and 

Information Gateway’s Subsidized Guardianship webpage 

at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/management/

funding/program-areas/kinship/subsidized/.

Adoption assistance payments may also be an option 

for kinship caregivers should they choose to adopt an 

eligible child from the formal foster care system. See 

Information Gateway’s Adoption Assistance by State 

webpage for State-specific information (https://www.

childwelfare.gov/topics/adoption/adopt-assistance/).

Respite Care

Kinship caregivers may need reliable and regular 

respite care to give them a break from their caregiving 

responsibilities. This may be particularly important for 

older relatives or kin caregivers taking care of children 

who have experienced significant trauma or those with 

special needs. The National Foster Parent Association 

recommends that foster parents receive a minimum of 

2 scheduled days of respite care per month (Annie E. 

Casey Foundation, 2012a). Many States and community 

organizations offer respite care ranging from a few 

hours to overnight and weekends. In situations where 

formal respite services are not available, caseworkers can 

help kinship caregivers identify their informal support 

systems—neighbors, friends, extended family members—

for potential relief.

Read more on the National Respite Network website 

(https://www.caregiver.org/arch-national-respite-network) 

and find respite providers and programs using a respite 

locator (https://archrespite.org/respitelocator). 

Support Groups

Support groups provide caregivers with an invaluable 

source of social support and a forum for sharing 

tips and resources. Caseworkers will find tips and 

lessons for establishing effective kinship support 

groups in the 2017 State of Grandfamilies report 

from Generations United, an advocacy group for 

kinship caregivers (http://www.gu.org/OURWORK/

Grandfamilies/TheStateofGrandfamiliesinAmerica/

TheStateofGrandfamiliesinAmerica2017.aspx).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

10

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey 

(CHSofNJ) offers kinship care services to seven 

counties through the Kinship Navigator’s 

wraparound and legal guardianship programs. 

The wraparound services program may help 

eligible kinship caregivers with an annual $500 

stipend to assist with short-term or one-time 

expenses such as housing, furniture, clothing, 

or with paying for special activities, such as 

camp. CHSofNJ has noticed that financial 

crises periodically surface that can threaten 

stability, such as health emergencies, pending 

evictions, and utility shutoffs. CHSofNJ staff work 

hard in these instances to identify additional 

funding sources and sustain services. CHSofNJ 

community-based Family Success Centers 

provide a local gathering place for caregiver 

education and support groups, referrals, and 

services to support kinship families (D. Bryant, 

personal communication, February 28, 2018). 

CHSofNJ’s kinship work is discussed in the March 

2015 Children’s Bureau site visit report (https://

www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/NJhomesociety.

pdf).

Other Services

Additional services needed by kinship care families 

include family counseling and potential psychiatric 

services for children, child care, education advocacy, 

tutoring, and affordable housing. Because many older 

relatives have reduced mobility, accessing services can be 

challenging. Providing in-home services when available is 

a best practice in these situations. 

See Information Gateway’s webpage Resources for 

Relative and Kinship Caregivers (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/resourcesforcaregivers/) 

for a comprehensive list of resources to help support 

kinship families. Many States have resource manuals 

or websites for kinship caregivers. The Information 

Gateway website maintains a database of State Guides 

and Manuals. Check for your State’s kinship care resources 

at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/sgm/. 

Generations United also offers State-specific information, 

including 52 State factsheets with data

on key State and local programs and resources, public 

benefits, educational assistance, legal relationship 

options, and State laws (http://www.grandfamilies.org/

State-Fact-Sheets).

Training Caseworkers and Caregivers

Kinship care is most likely to succeed when both the 

caregivers and the caseworkers they are working 

with have received kinship-specific training. Kinship 

caregivers are often contacted shortly after a child enters 

care and may need to make quick decisions 

and undergo expedited training, if available, in their 

State or jurisdiction. Providing preplacement supports, 

family-centered practice principles, cultural sensitivity, 

and a wide range of services can help families adjust to 

new circumstances and improve outcomes for children 

and families. Information Gateway’s webpage, Cultural 

Competence in Kinship Care, offers resources to 

help caseworkers consider various aspects of cultural 

sensitivity when working with kinship families (https://

www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/cultural/kinship/).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

11

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Training Caseworkers

Caseworkers who are assigned kinship care cases should 

receive training in the specific skills and competencies 

required to work effectively with the kinship triad (parents, 

children, and the kinship caregivers), including how to do 

the following:

 Assess families and identify risk factors, safety factors, 

strengths, and needs

 Use family-centered practice to develop a plan that 

meets the needs of the child and the family

 Effectively address the challenges of kinship care using 

cultural sensitivity

 Locate and access the services available to kinship 

caregivers

 Navigate the Interstate Compact on the Placement of 

Children to get approval for placement with a relative 

identified out of state (for kinship foster care exclusively) 

 Help caregivers manage stress and avoid burnout

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched a five-part video 

series to help child welfare professionals working with 

kinship caregivers, including a discussion guide to inform 

program directors, supervisors, and trainers. The training, 

led by kinship care expert Joseph Crumbley, provides a 

variety of approaches, scripts, and sample dialogues for 

working with kinship families (http://www.aecf.org/blog/

engaging-kinship-caregivers-with-joseph-crumbley/). 

The Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative (CBC), 

a service of the Children’s Bureau, created an e-learning 

training module on placement stability for kinship care. 

The free online course, “Achieving Placement Stability,” 

includes a training assessment for kinship care. The 

course offers caseworkers an opportunity to work through 

common scenarios they may encounter when working with 

potential or current kinship families. To access the training, 

visit the My Learning section on the CBC website at https://

learn.childwelfare.gov/.

CWLA produced a 12-hour training curriculum for 

purchase to help caseworkers collaborate with kinship 

caregivers to improve outcomes for child safety, wellbeing, and permanence. The training addresses legal, 

financial, physical/mental health, child behavior, school/

education, family relationships, support services, and fair 

and equal treatment for the kinship family. Collaborating 

With Kinship Caregivers: A Competency-Based Research 

to Practice Training Program for Child Welfare Workers 

and Their Supervisors is available at http://www.cwla.org/

collaborating-with-kinship-caregivers/. 

Traditions of Caring and Collaborating: Kinship Family 

Information, Support Groups, and Assessment (http://

www.cwla.org/kinship-family-infomation-support-goupsasessment/) is a CWLA course for purchase designed 

to bring caregivers together to learn new skills. It also 

helps agency staff assess the willingness and ability of 

kinship caregivers to protect and nurture children and 

work collaboratively with birth parents and other family 

members.

The Child Welfare Peer Kinship Network (http://www.

grandfamilies.org/Resources/Child-Welfare-Peer-KinshipNetwork), funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 

helps public child welfare agencies explore best practices 

in kinship care through an interactive listserv and access 

to kinship-specific training webinars. Topics include 

kinship caregiver engagement, kinship treatment foster 

care (TFC), foster care licensing for kinship families, and 

kinship diversion. 

The University of Maine offers an online “Certificate 

in Grandfamilies Leadership” for professionals and 

volunteers working with kinship caregivers (https://

mainecenteronaging.umaine.edu/education/kinshipcert/).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

12

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Kinship Caregivers Receive Less 

Training Than Traditional Foster 

Parents

 A study from the Carsey School of Public Policy 

at the University of New Hampshire compared 

kinship caregivers with nonrelative foster parents 

over a 6-month period. They found that the 

kinship caregivers were significantly less likely 

to have received training, used respite care, or 

participated in peer support groups (Walsh & 

Mattingly, 2014). This applied to kinship caregivers 

raising children both inside and outside the child 

welfare system and at all socioeconomic levels. 

Kinship caregivers outside the system had the 

lowest rate of training of all caregivers at just 16 

percent, while 24 percent of kinship foster parents 

received training. Nonrelative foster parents 

received the highest rate of training at 71 percent. 

Kinship caregivers outside the system (7 percent) 

were also less likely to be involved with organized 

peer support groups than kinship caregivers 

inside the child welfare system (17 percent) or 

nonrelative foster parents (32 percent).

Training Caregivers 

Many kinship caregivers take in children during or after 

a family crisis and have not had time to prepare for the 

role. They often have limited knowledge about the 

child welfare system or the resources available to them. 

Additionally, kinship caregivers often need to develop 

new skills to effectively raise emotionally abused and 

neglected children. Caregivers may also need training 

and guidance on how to best work with the children’s 

parent(s) (who may be the caregiver’s own child). 

Regardless of whether they are providing care inside 

or outside of the formal foster care system, kinship 

caregivers may have a greater need for services due to 

their age and restricted income levels—especially those 

who are caring for more than one child or sibling groups 

(Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012b).

Kinship caregivers have many concerns, including the 

following:

 Financial security

 Preparing their home for incoming children (e.g.,

additional furniture or expanded living space)

 Children’s behavioral and emotional needs from

related trauma

 Decisions related to children’s education and health

care

 Disruption in family relationships

 Affordable child care and after-school care

 Interaction with the child welfare system

Kinship caregivers need to understand the impact of 

caregiving on their well-being and may benefit from tips 

on managing stress, personal health, and emotionally 

stability. Information Gateway provides related self-care 

guides on its Resources for Kinship Caregivers: Impact 

on Caregivers webpage (https://www.childwelfare.

gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/resourcesforcaregivers/

impact/).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

13

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Kinship caregivers—whether inside or outside the 

foster care system—may also need training on how to 

respond to emotional and behavioral challenges with 

trauma-informed care. TFC provides caregivers with 

skills for coping with challenging behaviors and complex 

health issues in children who have experienced trauma 

(Generations United, 2017). An evaluation of a kinship TFC 

program in Texas showed that 80 percent of participating 

children were able to remain stable with their relative 

caregivers. The study also estimated significant cost 

savings from kinship TFC, noting that to maintain one 

child in such care in Texas would cost approximately 

$20,000 less per year than residential treatment 

(Generations United, 2017).

There are several resources for training kinship caregivers, 

including the following: 

 Introducing TSC-FC: A Trauma-Focused Curriculum

for Caregivers, a free, online training designed to help

caregivers understand how trauma affects behavior

and family dynamics (http://www.aecf.org/blog/

introducing-tst-fc-a-trauma-focused-curriculum-forcaregivers/)

 In-Service Training for Resource and Adoptive Parents

and Kinship Caregivers, designed to give resource and

adoptive parents the background and tools they need

to help children with complex caregiving issues (http://

www.family.umaryland.edu/rpt/)

 KEEP (Keeping Foster and Kin Parents Supported

and Trained), a training program for caregivers of

children ages 4–12 to provide effective tools for

dealing with a child’s behavioral and emotional

problems, rated as promising by the California

Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare

(http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/keepingfoster-and-kin-parents-supported-and-trained/

detailed)

 Kinship Center Educational Institute, an organization

that offers classes and custom training in both English

and Spanish on kinship care, foster care, and adoption

for parents and caregivers (http://www.kinshipcenter.

org/services/education-institute.html)

 Technical assistance and training from Generations

United, including webinars and access to a peer

network (http://www.gu.org/RESOURCES/Trainings.

aspx)

Promoting Kinship TFC

The Family-Focused Treatment Association (FFTA) 

sponsored six State and county “summits” in 

2014 and 2015 to promote kinship TFC, explore 

opportunities and barriers to implementing TFC 

in their jurisdictions, and identify children and 

families who might benefit from the kinship TFC 

approach. 

FFTA acknowledges there are several barriers 

to setting up a kinship TFC approach, including 

licensing restrictions, financing structures that 

fail to encourage kinship TFC, and a treatment 

system designed for traditional foster care.

FFTA produced the Kinship Treatment Foster 

Care Initiative Toolkit as a resource for engaging 

and supporting relatives caring for children and 

youth with treatment needs, available at https://

formedfamiliesforward.org/images/Kinship-TFCToolkit.pdf. 

For more information, visit the FFTA website at 

www.ffta.org or the Bair Foundation Child and 

Family Ministries at www.bair.org. 
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

14

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Examples of State and Local Kinship 

Programs

There are many programs to promote kinship care, 

support caregivers, and raise awareness. Some are the 

result of Federal initiatives (e.g., Children’s Bureau grants) 

and others are community-based:

 Arizona’s Kinship Navigator Project (AzKN) is

implemented through a 2012 Children’s Bureau award 

to Arizona’s Children Association. The project

emphasizes outreach through its website (http://

arizonakinship.org), community events, and “an office 

on wheels” in the form of two AzKN-purchased

minivans that visit caregivers in rural areas and offer

bilingual services to assist Spanish-speaking families.

For more information, see the 2016 Children’s Bureau 

site visit report on this project (https://www.

childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/azkinship.pdf) or listen to a 

related podcast on the family group conference focus 

(https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/

child-welfare-podcast-fgdm-implementing-fgc).

 California’s Kinship Support Service Program

(KSSP) is available to 20 California counties for kinship

support services through grants awarded by the

California Department of Social Services. Counties with 

40 percent or more children in the custody of the child 

welfare agency and living with relatives were eligible to 

apply for KSSP funding. KSSP programs provide 

community-based family support services to help 

create supportive and stable family environments

(www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/Foster-Care/

KinshipCare). 

 Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families

(DCF) made kinship care the presumptive placement

for children removed from their parents’ care—and

nonrelative care the exception— beginning in 2011.

Between 2011 and 2015, the number of children living

with kin jumped from 19 percent to 37 percent (Foster

Family-based Treatment Association, 2015). In addition

to collaborating with frontline staff, community

providers, legislators, judicial staff, and peers from

other States, several key reforms made this possible,

including the following:

○ Kinship process mapping. DCF identified barriers

to kinship care in each of the regional and local

offices and took systemic steps to remove them

where possible.

○ Flexibility in caregiver licensing. DCF streamlined

the process for issuing licensing waivers for

nonsafety issues, such as space requirements,

income guidelines, or even a past criminal or child

protective services history that has since been

resolved. (Promoting a “shared-risk” environment,

the DCF commissioner pledged to stand behind

local kinship placement decisions when officials

could provide supporting documentation.)

○ Firewall to ensure kinship care is the first

consideration. To ensure there is a diligent search

for any known relatives or family friends to care

for children removed from their homes, local DCF

offices are required to designate one individual

to sign off on all initial nonkinship foster care

placements.

○ Improvements to the emergency placement

process. DCF streamlined the walk-through process

to approve prospective kinship homes.

 Tennessee’s Kinship Exception Request is a

statewide form that case managers must complete

before making a nonkin placement, similar to

Connecticut’s kin-first presumptive placement

approach (ABA, ChildFocus, & Generations United,

2017).
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

15

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

 Denver’s Department of Human Services has 

created a firewall that requires caseworkers to call 

in requests for an out-of-home placement on a oneline, single point-of-entry system. The call results in 

a diligent search in the database for related family 

members within the first hour and a half, including 

a comprehensive background check. Denver DHS 

maintains a dedicated kinship support staff for 

conducting orientation, safety checks, abbreviated 

home inspections, and needs assessments. Kinship 

staff connect relative caregivers immediately with any 

services they might need and with the caseworker who 

stays on a case for its duration. The most requested 

services from kinship caregivers include financial 

assistance, day care, behavioral intervention, and 

crisis management (M. Scheuermann & M. Carson, 

personal communication, September 22, 2017). 

Denver DHS staff attribute their success with kinship 

placements—48 percent of children entering care are 

placed with kin compared with 30 percent statewide 

and nationally—to these measures.

 Edgewood’s Kinship Support Network (KSN) 

Program in San Francisco, CA, has various support 

groups led by kinship caregivers, including: a Spanishlanguage kinship caregiver support group; a quilting 

circle support group; and support groups connected 

to church communities through the city of San 

Francisco. Edgewood’s kinship programming includes 

trauma-informed training for kinship caregivers, 

educational workshops to help caregivers manage 

chronic disease, and family finding and kinship relative 

placements for transition-age youth to prevent 

homelessness (www.ikinship.org). Edgewood was 

awarded a Children’s Bureau Kinship Navigator grant 

in 2009. The final report is available on the Children’s 

Bureau Discretionary Grants library (Family Connection 

Discretionary Grants/#90CF0025/https://library.

childwelfare.gov/cbgrants/ws/library/docs/cb_grants). 

 New York’s Office of Children and Family Services 

funds 22 local kinship programs that serve 22 counties 

in New York with case management services (https://

ocfs.ny.gov/kinship/map.asp) as well as the New York 

State Kinship Navigator, a statewide information, 

referral, and education program for kinship caregivers 

and professionals. The Kinship Navigator answers 

a help line to assist caregivers and professionals by 

providing information on financial assistance, legal 

information, referrals to community services, and 

educational forums. A directory of county resources 

displays kinship, legal, aging, youth, and other services 

that are available in each county. The Navigator also 

supports a website with over 50 cited legal fact sheets 

and a variety of online resource features, including 

online chat assistance and interactive educational 

videos. The project hosted a 2014 summit aimed 

at educating policymakers about the needs of 

kinship caregivers, resulting in the creation of a teen 

leadership program to help adolescents and their 

kinship caregivers with a variety of coming-of-age 

issues. It also led to a State proclamation recognizing 

September as Kinship Care Month. The site visit report 

is available at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/

nykinship.pdf.

 Northern Virginia Kinship Symposium convenes 

kinship care experts and legal representatives from 

Northern Virginia jurisdictions to bring statewide 

attention to developments in kinship care and 

spread awareness about the need to support kinship 

caregivers. The third annual symposium, Mobilizing 

Kinship: Valuing, Assessing and Supporting Families, 

was held in September 2017 (L. Friedman, personal 

communication, October 23, 2017).

Conclusion

When relatives or close friends take care of children who 

can no longer remain at home, those children experience 

less instability and a stronger sense of security, identity, 

and belonging than children who are placed in nonrelative 

foster care. Kinship care helps to maintain family culture, 

traditions, values, and goals and often connections to 

schools and communities as well. Agencies that welcome 

and treat kinship caregivers as partners and ensure they 

have access to supportive services are helping to provide 

children with the safety, permanency, and well-being that 

comes from being with family.
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

16

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. 

This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/kinship/.

Additional Resources

 Generations United is a national advocacy organization 

for policies and programs to help “grandfamilies”—

kinship families in which children are being raised by 

grandparents or other family members—and promote 

intergenerational collaboration (http://www.gu.org/). 

 Grandfacts provides State-specific factsheets 

containing information and contacts on public 

benefits, state laws, and resources for kinship 

caregivers (http://www.grandfactsheets.org). 

 Grandfamilies.org provides free access to a wide 

variety of resources that support grandfamilies; 

educate individuals about State kinship laws; and assist 

legislators, caregivers, attorneys, and policymakers 

about kinship support options, including a guide on 

raising children with disabilities.

 Kinship Process Mapping: A Guide to Improving 

Practice in Kinship Care (http://www.aecf.org/

resources/kinship-process-mapping-full/) offers an 

outline for agencies to use in analyzing their kinship 

caregiver recruitment and supports. 

 The National Foster Care and Adoption Directory 

(https://www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad/) is an Information 

Gateway listing of kinship care, foster care, and 

adoption support groups by state.

 The National Kinship Alliance for Children (http://

kinshipalliance.org/) is a nonprofit information and 

referral network that supports kinship families.

 The National Kinship Care Listserv (http://web.wnylc.

com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kinship) is a forum for 

professionals working with kinship caregivers to share 

information and resources.

 The Grandkin Guide: Frequently Asked Questions 

and Answers for Relatives Raising Children (https://

www.facesofvirginia.org/images/stories/documents/

TheGrandKinGuide_lowres.pdf) explains what 

extended family members can expect when they 

are asked to step in and care for children, including 

information on the types of kinship care, the choices 

involved, and available support services.

 Taking Care of Yourself: Tips for Kinship Care 

Providers (https://www.cssp.org/reform/

strengtheningfamilies/2015/Self-Care-for-Kinship-CareProviders.pdf) is a tool to help relatives and fictive kin 

caring for a family member’s children identify their 

strengths, understand the impacts of trauma, engage 

in self-care, and avoid burnout. 

References

American Bar Association Center on Children 

and the Law, Child Focus, & Generations 

United. (2017). wikiHow for kinship foster care.

Retrieved from http://www.grandfamilies.org/

wikiHow-for-Kinship-Foster-Care

Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2017). Kids Count Data 

Center: Children in kinship care. Retrieved from 

http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/7172-

children-in-kinship-care?loc=1&loct=1#detailed/1/any/

false/1564,1491,1443,1218,1049/any/14207,14208

Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2012a). Building successful 

resource families: A guide for public agencies. 

Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/

aecf-BuildingSuccessfulResourceFamilies-2008.pdf

Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2012b). Stepping up for 

kids: What government and communities should do to 

support kinship families. Retrieved from http://www.

aecf.org/resources/stepping-up-for-kids/

Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2013). The kinship diversion 

debate: Policy and practice implications for children, 

families and child welfare agencies. Retrieved from 

http://www.aecf.org/m/pdf/KinshipDiversionDebate.

pdf

Center on the Developing Child. (2007). The impact of 

early adversity on children’s development (InBrief). 

Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/

resources/inbrief-the-impact-of-early-adversity-onchildrens-development/
Working With Kinship Caregivers https://www.childwelfare.gov

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Administration for Children and Families 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families 

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2017). Lessons from 

the field: Successful strategies for implementing family 

group decision-making (FGDM). Retrieved from https://

www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/fgdmsynthesis.pdf

Child Welfare League of America. (2000). CWLA standards 

of excellence for kinship care services. Washington. 

D.C: CWLA

Coleman, K. L., & Wu, Q. (2016). Kinship care and service 

utilization: A review of predisposing, enabling, and 

need factors. Children and Youth Services Review, 61, 

291–210. doi: org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.12.014

Cooper, R., & Donovan, J. (2014). Keeping kids with family: 

How Texas can better support kinship care. Retrieved 

from http://forabettertexas.org/images/CW_2014_12_

ES_KinshipCare.pdf

Foster Family-Based Treatment Association. (2015). The 

kinship treatment foster care initiative toolkit. Retrieved 

from https://formedfamiliesforward.org/images/

Kinship-TFC-Toolkit.pdf

Generations United. (2017). In loving arms: The 

protective role of grandparents and other relatives 

in raising children exposed to trauma. Retrieved 

from https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.com/

uhDY7UgdGYnOod6G7VFkdKnuzE3yALmr/17-

InLovingArms-Grandfamilies.pdf

Generations United. (2016). Children thrive in 

grandfamilies. Retrieved from http://grandfamilies.org/

Portals/0/16-Children-Thrive-in-Grandfamilies.pdf

James Bell Associates, Inc. (2013). Family Connection 

discretionary grants: 2009-funded grantees cross-site 

evaluation report–final. Retrieved from http://www.

nrcpfc.org/grantees_public/2009/fam%20conn%20

2009%20cross-site%20final%20report%206-17-13.pdf

Public Children Services Association of Ohio. (2017). 

Children Services testimony: Hearings before the 

Subcommittee of Health and Human Services of 

the House Committee on Finance, 115th Cong. 

15 (testimony of Angela Sausser). Retrieved 

from http://www.pcsao.org/pdf/advocacy/

BudgetPanelTestimony3-16-17.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

Administration for Children and Families, 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 

Children’s Bureau. (2017). The AFCARS report: 

Preliminary FY 2016 estimates as of Oct. 20, 2017. 

Retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/

files/cb/afcarsreport24.pdf

Walsh, W. A., & Mattingly, M. J. (2014). Related foster 

parents less likely to receive support services compared 

with nonrelative foster parents. Retrieved from http://

scholars.unh.edu/carsey/216/

Walsh, W. A. (2013). Informal kinship care most common 

out-of-home placement after an investigation of child 

maltreatment. Retrieved from http://scholars.unh.edu/

carsey/189/

Winokur, M. A., & Drendel, J. M. (2010). Are kinship 

placements more stable? Evidence and best practice 

from national and international research. CW360: 

Promoting Placement Stability, Spring 2010, 21. 

Retrieved from https://www.cascw.org/wp-content/

uploads/2013/12/CW360_2010.pdf

Suggested Citation: 

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2018). Working with 

kinship caregivers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.