WHAT IS KINSHIP CARE

"When parents are unable to care for their children and those children then are placed in the care of extended family or others with whom they share an emotional bond, it is called kinship care. Such arrangements have been carried out informally for hundreds of years. In the past 10 to 20 years, child welfare agencies have come to rely more and more on kinship care to provide homes for children in need".-ADOPTION INFORMATION.COM


"Nationally, kinship care is becoming a popular alternative to traditional foster arrangements, with more than 31 percent of all children in state custody being placed with relatives in 1992. North Carolina data for December 1995 showed that 2,344 children were placed with relatives, accounting for 18.5 percent of the children in care" (DHR, 1995).-children services practice notes

"The kinship care program is administered by the county department of human services or county department of social services (county department) or, in milwaukee county, by the department of Health and Family services (DHFS). Its funding comes from federal temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) block grant funds, which are transfered to DHFS from the Department of Workforce Development" - WISCONSIN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL LEGAL MEMORANDUM

The program provides a funding of only $215 per month to relatives using kinship care. Foster care payments are much more than that of kinship. a relative cant receive both types of funding. If they were to adopt the relative they would recieve more funding. But studies will show that many relatives will not adopt a child in hopes that they will one day reunite with their biological parent(s). They know that once a child is adopted, it is final. and they simply do not want to take the child away from their parents. Studies also show that children living with relatives that are not their parents is increasing at a fast pace. The US Dept. of Health and Human Services had an estimate of 1/3 of 150,000 children in foster care, is taken care by a relative in 1997. If in 1997 this was such a huge percent and this number is a steady increase you can see why more funding and support should go toward those in kinship care.

BENEFITS OF KINSHIP

One of the most important differences in care is that children in public kinship care maintain closer ties with their biological parents and siblings than those in non-kin care. There are more visits, calls, letters and gifts exchanged between parent and child in kinship care. While this may pose a safety concern, in general it is better for the child to stay close to biological parents.

Children in public kinship care are less likely to have multiple placements, yet tend to remain in out-of-home placement longer. They are less likely to be reunited with their parents and more likely to remain in the care of a relative. With kinship care on the rise, further study is needed to determine how to make it work best for all concerned. - ADOPTION INFORMATION.COM

Below is a study found in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (vol.162 no. 6, june 2008)

ABSTRACT

Objective To examine the influence of kinship care on behavioral problems after 18 and 36 months in out-of-home care. Growth in placement of children with kin has occurred despite conflicting evidence regarding its benefits compared with foster care.

Design Prospective cohort study.

Setting National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, October 1999 to March 2004.

Participants One thousand three hundred nine children entering out-of-home care following a maltreatment report.

Main Exposure Kinship vs general foster care.

Main Outcome Measures Predicted probabilities of behavioral problems derived from Child Behavior Checklist scores.

Results Fifty percent of children started in kinship care and 17% of children who started in foster care later moved to kinship care. Children in kinship care were at lower risk at baseline and less likely to have unstable placements than children in foster care. Controlling for a child's baseline risk, placement stability, and attempted reunification to birth family, the estimate of behavioral problems at 36 months was 32% (95% confidence interval, 25%-38%) if children in the cohort were assigned to early kinship care and 46% (95% confidence interval, 41%-52%) if children were assigned to foster care only (P = .003). Children who moved to kinship care after a significant time in foster care were more likely to have behavioral problems than children in kinship care from the outset.

Conclusions Children placed into kinship care had fewer behavioral problems 3 years after placement than children who were placed into foster care. This finding supports efforts to maximize placement of children with willing and available kin when they enter out-of-home care.

The video below shows the points in which i wish to raise on the issues and matters of kinship and family. The video,although not on kinship care, speaks about family wanting to stick together. The importance to me of kinship care is keeping relatives amongst relatives. This video displays a very heartfelt struggle of a family trying to stick together, i feel it shows why family is important. After all, that's the key meaning to kinship care.

IS BLOOD THICKER THAN WATER?

The government wants adoptive/foster children to stay with their mom or dad first and foremost. If the child most be removed from said parent, the next step is to keep the child with another family member. but if this is so, why does non-relative foster parents receive more funding from the government versus relative? This is a very controversial topic and one of the big issues with the system.