"FAMILY TIES" URGES ACTION TO SUPPORT KIN CARING FOR YOUTH INVOLVED WITH THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

BALTIMORE, March 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When children are not able to live with their parents, they do best with relatives or close family friends. Known as kinship care, these arrangements provide stability and connections that are vital to the development of children and youth, particularly for those who are involved with the child welfare system. Yet state policies governing kinship care vary wildly and leave many kinship caregivers ineligible for financial assistance and support services they need, finds a comprehensive nationwide survey of child welfare administrators described in a report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

"Family Ties: Analysis From a State-By-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies" identifies efforts by states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers. It highlights progress made at reducing barriers to foster care licensing, long-standing inequities in financial assistance for kinship caregivers and new opportunities to address their needs.

The survey's data, collected in 2022 for the Casey Foundation by Child Trends, and analysis will be shared in a series of six briefs addressing aspects of kinship care policy. The topics will include foster care licensing, support available for unlicensed caregivers, kinship diversion and states' increasing investment in kinship navigator programs. 

The data released today shed light on foster care licensing for kinship caregivers and show:

• A steady rise in kinship care. From 2007 to 2021, relative placements for youth and young people up to age 18 rose by 10% as a share of all foster care placements.
  
  
• The level of services and support available to kinship caregivers and the children they care for depends greatly on where they live. The availability of aid and services does not appear to be based on need, but on whether they can become licensed foster parents. There are tremendous inequities in state policies regarding the support given to licensed kinship foster parents, unlicensed kinship foster parents and kinship caregivers of children who are not in the child welfare system.
  
  
• A new federal rule allows states to make it easier for kin to become licensed — unlocking their access to resources. The rule calls on states to ensure licensed kinship caregivers receive the same financial support as non-relative foster parents. States that implement the change can seize this opportunity to reduce barriers to licensing and enable more kinship caregivers to qualify for assistance.
  
  
• Many states do not provide foster care maintenance payments to caregivers to cover a child's basic needs when the child is first placed with them; often, the funds do not arrive until the caregiver meets requirements to be licensed.

"Family binds us together. Kinship caregivers step up when children need them most, transforming young lives through consistency, stability and love," said Todd Lloyd, senior policy associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "It is crucial that we address these inequities and give them the support they need, so that they can help the children they care for thrive."

The "Family Ties" series is intended to help policymakers, advocates and child welfare administrators understand the existing resources for kinship caregivers, identify gaps and inform efforts to improve kinship care policies at the federal and state levels. Its recommendations include:

• increasing federal investments in kinship care;
  
  
• using available tools and guidance from kinship experts to implement the new federal rule, which would simplify the kinship licensing process for families;
  
  
• gathering more data on kinship care to better understand what is happening and identify areas of need and possible solutions; and
  
  
• engaging youth, their parents and kinship caregivers in policy and practice decisions that strengthen support and improve resources for the growing population of relatives and kin who step forward to care for children.

RELEASE INFORMATION
"Family Ties: Analysis From a State-By-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies," will be available at www.aecf.org on March 14, 2024.

ABOUT THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy that creates a brighter future for the nation's children, youth and young adults by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. For more information, visit the Foundation's website at www.aecf.org.

SOURCE The Annie E. Casey Foundation