State Approaches to Supporting Kinship Caregivers

Kinship care is different from non-related foster family
c a re in that caregivers are rarely strangers to the child. Many
believe that placement with kin is there f o re less traumatic
an experience for the child. While many child welfare
agencies actively seek out kinship placements, and most
show preference for this type of care, it is not clear from
the research whether children do better with kin or with
strangers. Research has shown that children in kinship care
arrangements can face different challenges than children
placed in non-kin foster care. It is of paramount import a n c e
to ensure that each child in care is in a safe and stable home,
one that enhances the child?s well-being. Given that so many
c h i l d ren in the United States are in kinship care, it is critical
to make sure that kinship caregivers receive the necessary
supports that enable them to provide a safe and stable
environment for the children in their care.
This issue brief identifies areas where kin caregivers may
need support, and programs that attempt to provide that
support. The question of what supports the states should
actually be providing to kinship caregivers, however, is
p roblematic. The types of supports that kin caregivers want
are clear. However, research on the types of supports that
e ffectively support kinship caregivers is sorely lacking. There
is an obvious and urgent need for more re s e a rch in this are a
if kinship caregivers are to be supported in their efforts to
provide children in their care with safe and stable homes.
Kinship Caregivers Need Special Supports
While kinship caregivers offer many benefits to children
in their care, this group of caregivers and the children in
their care face additional and unique challenges. Kinship
foster parents are usually older, more likely to be single
and in poorer health, with lower incomes and less educat
i o n than non-related care g i v e r s .2 Kinship caregivers often
have less notice of the child?s need of a placement. They
therefore may be less prepared mentally or materially to
State Approaches to Supporting
Kinship Caregivers
~ 1 ~
Kinship care, in its broadest sense, occurs when a relative, or someone emotionally close to a child, other than a pare n t ,
takes primary responsibility for that child. There are two general types of kinship caregiving arrangements: private
and public. Private or informal arrangements, where the child welfare system has no knowledge of or contact with
the child, are the most common form of arrangement. Public or f o rmal kinship foster care includes voluntary kinship care
and kinship foster care. With voluntary kinship care, social services help place the child with a relative, but the courts are
not involved. The most formal arrangement is kinship foster care, which occurs when the child is taken into state custody
because of some form of abuse or neglect and is placed with kin. In 2002, approximately 2.3 million children in the United
States were living in some type of kinship care arrangement, with an estimated 1,760,000 children in private kinship care,
140,000 in voluntary kinship care, and 400,000 in formal kinship foster care.1
care for a child. They are unlikely to have received training
to be a care g i v e r, and may not have had opportunity to ensure
that adequate space, furn i t u re, and other child-related necess
i t i e s are available.
In addition, children in formal kinship care tend to be younger,
are more likely to have been removed from the birth home
due to abuse or neglect, as opposed to other family pro b l e m s
such as child behavior issues, or parent-child conflict, and
a re more likely to come from homes where substance abuse
has been a problem.3 A number of studies have shown that
while kinship caregivers are so evidently in need of specific
extra services to help them overcome these challenges, they in
fact, receive less support, fewer services and less contact with
child welfare workers than non-re l a t e d foster caregivers.4
What do Kinship Caregivers Say They Need?
The supports that kinship caregivers feel they need but are
not receiving include long-term concrete supports such as
financial assistance, respite care, and assistance with housing
and transportation.5 Kinship caregivers note that they often
face a lack of information and guidance about procedures
of the child welfare system, especially frustrating given the
complexity and difficulty in negotiating variations in state
licensing policies and payment polices for kinship care g i v e r s ,
and the intricate relationship between them. Kinship caregivers
feel a lack of preparedness to meet the child?s needs.
They want more accurate and consistent information about
available services, greater access to ongoing support gro u p s ,
and counseling for children in care and their birth parents.6
Studies show distrust of a child welfare system that is insufficiently
responsive to the needs of kinship caregivers and
the needs of children in care. Caregivers note a lack of re s p e c t
by child welfare caseworkers, including intrusiveness and a
frequent assumption that they do not know how to parent.
Kinship caregivers also feel that child welfare agencies do
not promote reunification or other plans for children?s permanency,
and feel frustrated by failure by caseworkers to
follow through on agreed upon next steps.7
Provision of Services
Studies show that while state policies generally indicate that
kinship caregivers are eligible for the same services as nonrelative
caregivers, in practice they do not receive the same
a rray of support s .8 Kinship caregivers may not request some
s u p p o rts because they are unaware of them or of their eligib
i l i t y for them. Reasons may also include an unwillingness to
accept ?handouts,? an unwillingness to have further involvement
with public agencies, or concern that caseworkers
regard kinship caregivers as different, or less in need of
supports than non-relatives. In fact, a multi-state study in
1998 showed that kinship foster caregivers requested serv i c e s
almost as often as non-relatives, but received only an average
of 1.93 services, compared to an average of 3.24 services
received by non-relative foster parents.9 While some state
policies do acknowledge the importance of providing serv i c e s
for kinship families, all too often kinship caregivers are not
made aware of the services available to them once the state
takes legal custody of the child.10
A number of states are attempting to improve the availability
of services to kinship caregivers. These measures include
support groups for kinship caregivers, support centers targeted
at kinship care families, improved case management,
and higher welfare payments than those usually received
under TANF.11 A few states have formalized programs for
kin caring for children who are not in state custody.12 These
programs often assign caseworkers to the family, give assistance
getting financial aid and becoming legal guardians,
and assist with access to limited funding for bedding, school
uniforms, etc.13 It is important that more states follow suit,
and that kinship care families are informed of their eligibility
for these supports.
Financial Supports
Studies show that kinship families have significantly lower
incomes than non-relative foster families, but despite this
significantly greater financial need, relatives caring for
children often receive much less governmental financial
s u p p o rt than their non-relative counterpart s .1 4 Kinship caregivers
who are ineligible for foster care payments are eligible
to receive child-only Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) payments, but many do not get them. This
is also the case with Medicaid coverage, food stamps, housing
assistance and childcare subsidies.15 Generally, only those
families known to the child welfare system, the voluntary and
kinship foster families, receive support specifically for foster
care giving. Private kinship caregivers may receive other
types of financial support, such as TANF child-only grants
and social security. Many states that help place children
who are not in state custody require caseworkers to inform
kin of their eligibility for TANF payments and where to apply,
while other states require caseworkers to help arrange for
receipt of TANF payments.
Financial support for voluntary and kinship foster care g i v e r s
varies widely by state, and usually depends on the type of
licensing the caregiver receives. Generally, the less stringent
the licensing standards required, the lower the payments.
ISSUE BRIEF
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H o w e v e r, for the state to qualify for federal re i m b u r s e m e n t
f rom Title IV-E funds for kinship care families, kin must meet
the same licensing standards as non-relative foster family
homes, except in some special individual cases. Depending
on the type of licensing the family has, as well as the family?s
financial need, states will provide somewhere between a full
foster care payment and the TANF child-only grant.
While many states pay kinship caregivers the same subsidies
that are provided for non-related caregivers, others pay at
lower rates. This affects long-term outcomes for children in
care. Some studies have shown that children whose kinship
caregivers receive a foster care subsidy are less likely to be
reunified with birth parents, and more likely to remain in
l o n g - t e rm care. In general, adoption and guardianship financial
s u p p o rts are less than foster care supports. For many kinship
c a regivers this means that adopting or becoming the perm an
e n t g u a rdian would be financially difficult, if not impossible.
The lower rates of adoption for children in kinship care
suggest that more re s e a rch is necessary to explore this issue.
Supervision
The research is unfortunately unclear about whether kin
families need more, less or the same level of supervision as
non-kin. Kinship caregivers may need more supervision
and support from caseworkers than non-relative caregivers
for a number of reasons. Perhaps one of the main arg u m e n t s
for additional supervision is the less stringent licensing
s t a n d a rds practiced by some states. For voluntary and kinship
foster caregivers, states have adopted three different forms
of licensing standards. These include:
n a stringent fully licensed standard that holds kin to the
same standards as non-relatives;
n a standard with waivers, which re q u i res kin to meet the
same standards as non-relatives with the exception of
some non-safety related requirements, such as space
requirements in the caregiver?s home, age limits, etc.;
n and a completely separate licensing process, different
from that for non-relatives, and specifically designed
with kinship families in mind.
Not all states require voluntary kinship caregivers to be
licensed in some way, but in states where licensing is not
re q u i red, families are usually only then eligible for a TA N F
child-only grant. While some states only offer the option
of a full license to kinship caregivers, other states offer
more options.
ISSUE BRIEF
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Licensing requirements are, of course, designed to protect
c h i l d ren from further abuse or neglect. Less stringent licensing
requirements, as described above, are also designed to
keep children safe from further abuse and neglect, by
increasing the likelihood that they remain in the care of
people they are familiar with, and by increasing the number
of foster care families available to children at risk. However,
these less stringent licensing re q u i rements may necessitate
increased levels of supervision, to ensure the safety and
well-being of children in care.
On the other hand, if kinship caregivers are emotionally
attached to the child in their care, the caregivers may be
more likely to provide good care without increased supervision.
To date, re s e a rch has not yet indicated clearly which
is the case.
While most states require the same level of supervision for
children in the care of kin as non-relative care, in practice
kin families are often treated differently. Studies show that
kinship caregivers are likely to receive less supervision16 in
the form of frequent home visits, telephone calls and contact
from caseworkers, with one study showing one out of four
kinship caregivers going without contact from caseworkers
for over a year. Caseworkers are also less likely to explain the
role of the child welfare agency and provide less inform a t i o n
in general. This may be due to a perception among caseworkers
that kinship placements are in some way different
and separate from the child welfare system, or fundamentally
safer than placements with non-relatives, or that kin
p refer limited contact with the agency. Kin caring for childre n
who are not in state custody are usually provided with no
supervision at all.
The familial relationship may also give rise to a need for
more supervision in that there is often more frequent and
less supervised birth parent access to the child in care.
While studies show that constructive, frequent and appropriately
supervised contact with birth parents may facilitate
reunification, and maintain the bond between parent and
child, appropriate forums for these visits are essential.
Educating kinship caregivers about the importance of
appropriate visitation, better supervision and support by
caseworkers is essential.
Kinship caregivers are usually less pre p a red to be care g i v e r s
than family foster caregivers. Notification of the need for
placement is often last minute, leaving no time for thoro u g h
p reparation or training. These factors may re q u i re support
in the form of extra supervision, at least in the early phases
of placement.
Permanency Planning and Kinship Care
According to the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA),
the goal of child welfare services should be to provide a
permanent placement for a child in care, whether that takes
the form of reunification, adoption or legal guardianship.
Often however, kinship care is treated as an alternative to
permanency, with many children left in long-term foster
care with kin.17 Recent research indicates that states are
emphasizing permanency planning with kin more, but longterm
kin foster care is still used as an option far too often.
Many states are not adhering to the ASFA ruling that states
file a permanency petition to terminate parental rights for
any children in foster care for 15 of the previous 22 months.1 8
On top of this, financial disincentives for kin adoption
often exist, such as the loss of childcare assistance, or loss of
eligibility for other government subsidies.
Kinship caregivers can often be slow to adopt, wanting to
avoid terminating the rights of the birth parent, and a possible
family conflict. While willing to care for the child until
adulthood, many kinship caregivers perceive adoption as
unnecessary, since the child is already family. While all
states permit kin to adopt, to qualify for an adoption subsidy,
as with non-kin fostering, the child must have a special need
that prevents placement without special assistance.
Many states use guardianship, both subsidized and unsubsidized,
as a permanency option for children in kin foster
care, especially when other permanency options such as
adoption have been ruled out. This enables kin to assume
long-term responsibility for the child without having to
terminate the birth parents? rights. The kinship caregiver
obtains legal guardianship of the child and receives post
guardianship services, a subsidy that ranges between the
TANF amount and the foster care payment amount, until
the child is 18 years of age as well as medical care for the child.
However, this option does not offer the same prot e c t i o n s
against unexpected changes in custody as adoption. Certain
benefits that are available for children in foster care, including
kinship care, are not available once they have been given a
legal guardian. These include priority in registering for school
and financial aid when applying for college. They also lose
their Title IV?E maintenance payments. Kinship care g i v e r s
should be fully informed of all permanency options and of
their financial and legal ramifications.
ISSUE BRIEF
If the focus of the debate on providing supports for
kinship caregivers is on the child in care, rather than
the caregivers or the state, the course of action is clear.
Kinship caregivers should be provided with the supports
necessary to provide a safe and stable home that
enhances the well-being of the child. These services will
differ according to each family?s needs. Kinship caregivers
are not a homogenous group. For example, many
are older and need services such as respite care, and
medical care for themselves, as well as for the child in their
care, while younger caregivers are more likely to be
working and need assistance with and access to childcare.
While many kinship caregivers need long-term cash
assistance, the provision of accessible social service supp
o rts is just as important. A wide range of social serv i c e s
and community supports, including support groups,
counseling supports, transportation assistance, respite
care, etc. must be made available to kinship caregivers.
Not only this, but caregivers must be made aware of the
availability of such supports. Caseworkers should be
trained as to the needs of caregivers, must be able to assist
caregivers as they negotiate the complex child welfare
system, and be required and able to inform caregivers of
the existence of available supports and their eligibility
for them.
Public and private agencies and grassroots coalitions of
kinship caregivers have begun working together to expand
services and supports available to caregivers. To ensure
the well-being of children in kinship care, states need to
follow suit. More research must also be carried out, and
the results disseminated, to support the need for the
provision of supports to kinship caregivers.
While the Department of Social Services has primary
responsibility for supporting children in care, their foster
parents and their biological parents, child advocates too,
have an intrinsic role to play. Advocates for children must
p ress for additional re s e a rch, help ensure that services are
available and accessible, and act as watchdog for governm
e n t agencies responsible for children at risk, and childre n
in care. After all, the future of our children is at stake.
S U M M A RY
~ 4 ~
Endnotes
1 Who Takes Care of Children When Their Parents Can?t? Oct. 9, 2003.
The Urban Institute. Nov. 9, 2004. http://www. u r b a n . o rg / u r l . c f m ?
I D = 9 0 0 6 6 2 .
2 Berrick, Jill D. ?When Children Cannot Remain Home.? The Future of
Children 8.1 (1998): 72-87.
3 Chipungu, Sandra S., et al. Children Placed in Foster Care with Relatives:
A Multi-State Study. Nov. 1998. United States Department of Health
and Human Services: Children?s Bureau. Sept. 10, 2004. http://aspe.
hhs.gov/pic/pdf/5846.pdf; United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children?s Bureau.
Cong. Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care: Part I: Research
Review and Part II: Secretary?s Report to the Congress. June 2000. United
States Department of Health and Human Services. Sept. 9, 2004.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/ kinr2c00/full.pdf.
4 United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration
for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and
Families Children?s Bureau. Cong. Report to the Congress on Kinship
Foster Care: Part I: Research Review and Part II: Secretary?s Report to the
Congress. June 2000. United States Department of Health and Human
Services. Sept. 9, 2004. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf.
5 Maryland?s Resource Guide for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
provides caregivers with information regarding legal, financial, health,
housing and child care services. More information is available at
http://www.800ageinfo.com. Oregon?s Lifespan Respite Care Program
p rovides caregivers with respite information, re f e rrals to respite serv i c e s
and links to respite payment resources. More information on this
program is available at http://www.dhs.state.or.us/seniors/caregiving/
respite_care.htm.
6 Te n n e s s e e ?s Department of Childre n ?s Services? Relative Care g i v e r
P ro g r a m provides kinship caregivers with individual and family counseling,
legal services, financial aid, respite, recreation and homemaker
services as well as support groups, training and case management.
More information contact Elizabeth Black, Kinship Care Program
Coordinator, at elizabeth.black@state.tn.us.
7 Glesson, J. P., C. R. Massat, and P. O?Brien. ?Upping the Ante:
Relative Caregivers? Perceptions of Changes in Child We l f a re Policies.?
Child Welfare 80.6 (2001): 719-748.
8 Chipungu, Sandra S., et al. Children Placed in Foster Care with Relatives:
A Multi-State Study. Nov. 1998. United States Department of Health
and Human Services: Children?s Bureau. Sept. 10, 2004 http://aspe.
hhs.gov/pic/pdf/5846.pdf; United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children?s Bureau.
Cong. Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care: Part I: Research
Review and Part II: Secretary?s Report to the Congress. June 2000. United
States Department of Health and Human Services. Sept. 9, 2004
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf: Chipangu; Albert, Vanessa,
et al. From Child Abuse to Permanency Planning. New York: Aldine
de Gruyter, 1994.
9 Chipungu, Sandra S., et al. Children Placed in Foster Care with Relatives:
A Multi-State Study. Nov. 1998. United States Department of Health
and Human Services: Children?s Bureau. Sept. 10, 2004 http://aspe.
hhs.gov/pic/pdf/5846.pdf; United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children?s Bureau.
Cong. Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care: Part I: Researc h
Review and Part II: S e c re t a ry ?s Report to the Congress. June 2000.
United States Depart m e n t of Health and Human Services. Sept. 9, 2004.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf.
10 H o w e v e r, some states do provide re s o u rces to help caregivers find
a n s w e r s to these questions. Colorado?s Kinship Resource Guide pro v i d e s
i n f o rm a t i o n on public benefits, legal options, educational access, medical
and mental health services, child care, support groups, foster care
and adoption and interacting with incarcerated parents. More information
is available at h t t p : / / w w w. c d h s . s t a t e . c o . u s / c y f / c w e l f a re /
K i n s h i p % 2 0 R e s o u rc e % 2 0 G u i d e .pdf.
11 C a l i f o rn i a ?s Yolo County provides support groups for relative care g i v e r s
where they receive information about legal assistance, health insurance,
government benefits, and corporation with schools. They are also
e m p o w e red with the ability to share feelings of frustration as well as
s h a re their experiences and hopes for the children in their care. Child
care is available during the meetings.
12 Louisiana?s Second Time Around program sponsors an annual conference
that provides grandparents with workshops on mentoring, child
well-being, substance abuse, and conflict resolution. Monthly seminars
on subjects such as voluntary custody and child support are also available.
M o re information is available at http://www. g r a n d s p l a c e . c o m / g p 8 / l a . h t m l .
Ohio and Maryland both have Kinship Navigator Programs, established
in 2000 and 1999 re s p e c t i v e l y. Both programs provide assistance to kins
h i p caregivers in need of legal assistance. More information on Ohio?s
p rogram can be found at http://jfs.ohio.gov/factsheets/KinshipCare . p d f .
More information on Maryland?s program can be found at
http://www.coppin.edu/kinshipcare/.
13 Illinois is piloting a Guardianship Advocacy Project to assist caregivers
in filing for guardianship along with other services such as applying for
a child-only grant through TANF and obtaining assistance through
local kinship care services. More information is available at
http://www.childrensdefense.org/childwelfare/kinshipcare/fact_sheets/il
linois.pdf. Alabama?s Kinshare Program assists caregivers in finding
respite care services, clothing, furniture and other emergency items.
For more information contact Jackie Moffitt, Kinshare Program
Specialist, at jmoffitt@dhr.state.al.us.
14 Chipungu, Sandra S., et al. Children Placed in Foster Care with Relatives:
A Multi-State Study. Nov. 1998. United States Department of Health
and Human Services: Children?s Bureau. Sept. 10, 2004
http://aspe.hhs.gov/pic/pdf/5846.pdf; United States Department of
Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and
Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children?s
Bureau. Cong. Report to the Congress on Kinship Foster Care: Part I:
Research Review and Part II: Secretary?s Report to the Congress. June 2000.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Sept. 9, 2004.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf.
15 However, some states do provide programs that assist caretakers in
obtaining financial assistance. New Jersey?s Kinship Navigator
Program helps kinship caregivers acquire cash assistance and child
care subsidies, as well as other resources. More information about
this program is available at http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/sp&i/
Kinnav.html.
16 Geen, Rob. ?The Evolution of Kinship Care Policy and Practice.?
The Future of Children 14.1 (2004): 131-144.
17 United States Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children,
Youth and Families Children?s Bureau. Cong. Report to the Congress on
Kinship Foster Care: Part I: Research Review and Part II: Secretary?s Report
to the Congress. June 2000. United States Department of Health and
Human Services. Sept. 9, 2004. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/
full.pdf.
18 Jantz, Amy, et al. The Continuing Evolution of State Kinship Care Policies.
Dec. 2002. The Urban Institute. Sept. 2004 http://www.urban.org/
UploadedPDF/310597_state_kinship_care.pdf.
~ 5 ~
ISSUE BRIEF
F O R A M E R I C A? CHILDREN
? 2004 by Voices for America?s Children
Available online at www. v o i c e s f o r a m e r i c a s c h i l d re n . o rg
Lynda Dunne, Policy and Advocacy Specialist
Voices for America?s Childre n
1522 K St., NW| Suite 600| Washington, DC 20005
Thi s d o cumen t wa s pr e p a re d wi th the g ene r ous sup p o rt of the Fre dd ie Ma c Foun da ti on.