Child Welfare

Adoption USA. A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents. Acknowledgements

Any large scale research effort is made possible through the efforts of many hands, and the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) and the compilation of this Chartbook is no exception. Important to this effort is the interagency collaboration that occurred throughout the development of the questionnaire, the implementation of the survey, and,

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Appendix D: Kinship Care Advisory Panel Members

David Berns Director El Paso County Department of Human Services Colorado Springs, CO Donna M. Butts Executive Director Generations United Washington, DC Liz Carpenter Relative Caregiver Austin TX Sarah T. Casken Executive Director Hawaii State Foster Parents Association Kailiua, HI Sandra Stukes Chipungu Professor

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Appendix C: Bibliography

Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Relative Foster Care Workgroup Meeting, Summary of Proceedings. February 24-25, 1994. Submitted by Westover Consultants, Inc., Washington, DC. Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Relative Foster Care Workgroup Meeting, Summary of Proceedings. September 22-23, 1994. AFCARS, U.S. Depa

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Appendix B: State Data

Table B.1: States’ Definition of Kin 1 (N=44)

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Appendix A: Text of the Adoption and Safe Families Act

SEC. 303. KINSHIP CARE.

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Appendices

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Future Considerations

While the extended family has often taken in children whose parents are unable to care for them, the emerging use of relatives as providers of foster care in the public child welfare system is a new and important phenomenon, and one which has grown quickly. Nationally, relatives are now caring for approximately one third of children in foster care

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. VI. Gaps in Research, Evaluation and Other Information

Issue: What are the gaps in our understanding of kinship care that should be addressed in the coming years? Discussion: While we were able to identify considerable relevant research, which is described in the research review that accompanies this policy discussion, there remain many gaps in our knowledge about kinship care and its use within

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. V. Interactions Between Foster Care Payments and Other Federal Programs

Issue: Do foster care payments or a child’s status in foster care with a relative interact in problematic ways with eligibility criteria for other Federal programs?

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. IV. The Role of Kinship Care as a Permanency Option for Children

Issue: How does kinship foster care fit into permanency planning efforts and under what circumstances should children remain in long-term foster care placements with relatives?

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. III. Non-financial Assistance for Relative Caregivers

Issue: What information and services do kinship foster families need, and how are these different from the needs of non-kin foster families?

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. II. Financial Assistance for Caregivers

Issue: Should kin foster parents receive the same level of financial support for the care of foster children as is provided to non-kin foster parents? Should such support be available only while the child remains in State custody, or should it continue if the child is discharged to the relative’s legal custody?

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. I. Selection, Assessment and Supervision of Relative Caregivers

Child protection investigations are typically precipitated by a crisis in the family. Rapid decisions regarding a child’s safety must be made in the midst of chaotic situations and complex family relationships. The involvement of the child protection agency in a family also adds a new and powerful player that changes family dynamics. Assuring de

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Issues

The remainder of this policy discussion focuses on issues the child welfare field is facing regarding kinship foster care; issues that arise in various forms in communities throughout the nation. There is currently wide variation in practice among the States regarding the use of relatives as foster parents, including under what circumstances they

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Principles

One of the major contributions of the Advisory Panel was a discussion of principles that should guide the analysis of kinship foster care issues. Before entering into discussions of specific issues related to kinship foster care, the Advisory Panel framed tenets to ground their discussions. While there was significant agreement among the panel mem

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Background

Extended family members often provide crucial support for children during parental crises. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives routinely step in to care for children when parents cannot. Usually these are informal custody arrangements handled privately among family members. Occasionally, legal custody of children is transferred to a r

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Responding to a Congressional Directive

In passing the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA, P.L. 105-89), the Congress recognized the growing practice of using relatives as licensed foster parents in many States and communities in the United States. As a step toward building a better understanding upon which to base future policy and legislative decisions, the Congress requeste

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Part II: Secretary’s Report to the Congress

This section of the report was developed by staff of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services based on the input of the Advisory Panel on Kinship Care and the deliberations of Departmental officials. It represents the recommendations of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Notes

See Chapter 5 for a complete discussion of data limitations. Throughout this report, we differentiate between these two types of arrangements. When we wish to discuss both types of arrangements together, we refer to them as simply kinship care. Takas used similar terms to differentiate kinship care arrangements, but her definition of public k

Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care. Future Sources of Information

Several research and data-gathering efforts now being planned or already underway should significantly improve our understanding of kinship care. A few of the larger efforts include:

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