Given the differences in their circumstances and characteristics, it is not surprising that the experiences of public kinship care families differ from those of non-kin foster care families. Specifically, it appears that child welfare caseworkers treat public kinship care families differently than they do non-kin foster families. They provide less supervision, less monitoring, and fewer services to kinship care families. In addition, the experiences of children while in public kinship care differ from those of non-kin foster children. Children in public kinship care maintain closer ties with their birth families, are less likely to have multiple placements, tend to remain in out-of-home placement longer, and are less likely to be reunified with their parents. While concerns have been raised about the safety of public kinship care arrangements, there is insufficient information to assess whether these concerns are warranted. There is virtually no information on how placement in public kinship care affects the long-term health and well-being of children.
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Child Welfare Service Delivery and Supervision of Kinship CARE Families
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Many States have developed different policies for public kinship and non-kin foster care (Chapter 2). Available data suggest that child welfare workers’ service delivery and supervision practices for public kinship care families also differ.
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Experiences of Children While in Public Kinship CARE
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Foster parents seek to provide a safe, stable, and family-like setting for children who cannot live with their parents. Foster care is meant to be temporary, with children returning home or finding an alternative permanent placement as soon as possible. Unfortunately, being placed in foster care can be traumatic for children. Moreover, studies have shown that foster children sometimes get lost in the system, remaining in care for several years and moving from one foster home to another. Policy makers and child welfare experts have questioned whether children in public kinship care fare better or worse than children in non-kin foster care. Children in public kinship care appear to maintain a stronger connection to their families and community roots. While concerns have been raised about the safety of these kinship care homes, insufficient information is available to assess whether these concerns are warranted.
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Permanency
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Permanency refers to the child welfare goal of securing, as quickly as possible, a stable living arrangement for children who must be removed from their parents’ homes. As discussed below, the unique nature of kinship care often makes traditional plans for permanency—specifically, reunification with parents or adoption— problematic. Moreover, there has been much debate over where kinship care fits into the continuum of permanency options. Some researchers suggest that kinship care can be used effectively to “divert” children from the formal foster care system (Berrick, 1998). Many, including several members of the Kinship Care Advisory Panel, argue that public kinship care, like non-kin foster care, should be a short-term arrangement for children while reunification with parents is attempted (Kinship Care Advisory Panel, 1999). Others maintain that kinship care itself can be a permanent option, an opinion supported by the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which identified “a fit and willing relative” as a potential “planned permanent living arrangement” (Kinship Care Advisory Panel, 1999; McDaniel et al., 1997).
It appears that kinship care has both positive and negative effects on permanent living arrangements for children. Public kinship care homes are very stable, but children remain in them for relatively long periods and are less likely to be reunified with their parents. However, some evidence suggests that once children in public kinship care are reunified with their parents, they are less likely to reenter foster care.
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Effects of Kinship CARE on Children and Caregivers
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To date, no reliable data have been gathered on the differences in the health or well-being of either children or providers as a result of public kinship care. Public kinship children and caregivers do differ from non-kin on a number of point-in-time indicators (Chapter 3), but it is uncertain whether such differences result from the care arrangements or were present before them. One study that compared the adult health and well-being of children who lived in public kinship and non-kin foster homes found that although children in public kinship care had fewer problems during foster care, there was little difference between the two groups as adults (Benedict, Zuravin, and Stallings, 1996).
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Summary of the Experiences of Kinship CARE Families
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Caseworkers treat public kinship care families differently from non-kin families, and the experiences of public kinship care families appear to differ markedly from those of non-kin foster families.
- Caseworkers’ practices. Compared to non-kin foster parents, public kinship caregivers have less interaction with caseworkers and receive less supervision and information about their responsibilities and the role of the child welfare agency. Public kinship caregivers and children receive fewer services, though it is uncertain whether this reflects differences in needs, knowledge about, or access to such services. Birth parents of public kinship care and non-kin foster children receive similar services.
- Experiences in care. Public kinship care allows children to maintain a greater sense of family continuity. Given the limited research available, it not possible to assess whether concerns regarding increased risk to children in public kinship care are warranted. Children placed in kinship care remain in care longer and are much less likely to move from foster home to foster home than non-kin foster children. However, children in kinship care are less likely to be reunified with their birth parents.
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Gaps in Knowledge and Potential Sources of Data
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This chapter includes all available information on three of the items for which Congress specifically requested information: services provided to kinship caregivers and to birth parents, birth parents’ access to their children in care, and permanency plans for children in kinship care. Listed below are additional information needed and potential sources of that information.
- Service delivery. Information on the service needs of kinship care children and caregivers, as well as birth parents, is very limited. An important question is the extent to which differences in service delivery and agency supervision result from differences in need, differences in State policies, or differences in caseworker practices (for example, telling foster parents about available services). Other factors that may influence the services provided to kin but for which information is not available include foster parent attributes and attitudes (such as their ability to articulate needs and willingness to accept services) and the personal interaction between caseworkers and foster parents.
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) will collect information from caseworkers on risk assessment results, services needed, services provided, and family compliance and progress. The survey will also gather information from substitute caregivers and noncustodial biological parents on services needed, services provided, and satisfaction with the child welfare system. Noncustodial biological parents will be asked about their understanding of and compliance with the case plan. Children age 6 and over will be asked about their satisfaction with casework services.
The Children’s Bureau is funding the development of guidelines for the use of kin as foster parents; cross-agency training for staff, relatives, and birth parents; and services for relatives. Projects will also assess the service needs (including economic needs) of kinship caregivers and strategies for training, supervising, and providing services to them.
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Birth parents’ access. There is no information on the extent to which kinship caregivers have difficulty restricting birth parents’ access to children when such access may not be appropriate.
NSCAW will interview children ages 6 and over about their contact and relationships with parents and siblings.
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Permanency. No one knows how often kinship caregivers adopt the children in their care or the extent to which caseworkers’ perceptions (or misconceptions) about kin’s willingness to adopt result in fewer adoptions. There is no information on the role of biological fathers in kinship care or permanency planning.
NCSAW will interview caseworkers about permanency planning and adoption possibilities. Data on children’s most recent permanency goals and on the number of adoptions by relatives will be available through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. In addition, States that received title IV-E waivers to implement subsidized guardianship programs will be collecting information on such factors as permanency plans for children; child and family well-being; health, special needs, safety, emotional adjustment, and educational status of children; children’s perceptions of permanency in subsidized guardianship; family satisfaction with the placement; and the effect of the programs on the number of children in kinship care. A detailed description of these subsidized guardianship programs is included in Appendix B.
The Children’s Bureau has funded a variety of projects regarding kinship care, including one to examine the safety, well-being and permanency of children in kinship homes using a variety of measures for infants, children, and teenagers to age 18. For older children, it will also code school absences, health appointments, immunizations, dental appointments, and referrals to outside agencies for other services. The Children’s Bureau has also funded a kinship care demonstration project designed to prevent placement disruptions and promote permanency by providing a variety of services, such as respite care, in-home counseling, family unity meetings, training and support groups for kinship caregivers, stipends for material resources to maintain placements, and referrals to community-based support services. Another project will try to determine whether adoption by kin is a meaningful option for children in kinship care who cannot be reunified with their birth parents and to identify barriers to kinship adoption and methods for overcoming them. In one State, a project designed to improve the safety, well-being, and permanence of Indian children entering child welfare will provide kinship care in both state and tribal welfare systems. Another grant will fund a project to examine what effects intervention strategies for kinship families have on children’s psychological attachment, behavior, readiness for school, interaction with peers, and performance in school; incidents of child abuse; children’s life skills; and adoption. The project will also measure caregivers’ self-esteem, self control, parenting skills, ability to meet basic human needs, advocacy abilities, and stress.
- Service delivery. Information on the service needs of kinship care children and caregivers, as well as birth parents, is very limited. An important question is the extent to which differences in service delivery and agency supervision result from differences in need, differences in State policies, or differences in caseworker practices (for example, telling foster parents about available services). Other factors that may influence the services provided to kin but for which information is not available include foster parent attributes and attitudes (such as their ability to articulate needs and willingness to accept services) and the personal interaction between caseworkers and foster parents.
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