Kinship foster care is an out-of-home arrangement for full-time care by relatives such as grandparents or uncles and aunts, or tribe members, godparents, or others who are not a child’s parent but have a family relationship with the child, when a child is removed from home due to a safety concern such as child maltreatment. Children may be placed in kinship foster care through a child welfare agency (i.e., formal kinship care) or through informal, private arrangements as an alternative to placement with non-relative foster parents. Licensing process and requirements for kinship care (e.g., caregiver training, background checks, and household safety assessment) vary by state (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, CWIG-Foster care statutes). Caregiver’s monthly payment through the federal Title IV-E program or state funds also varies by state and age of child (Child Trends-Foster care payment).

• Improved mental health

• Improved child behavior

• Increased foster care placement stability

• Increased family reunification

There is strong evidence that children in kinship foster care have fewer behavioral problems (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, Wu 2015*, Perry 2018*) and fewer mental health problems (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, Stein 2014) than children in non-kinship foster care. Kinship foster care can also lead to more stable placement, including a reduced likelihood of re-entry and placement disruption and fewer placements, than non-kinship foster care (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, Bell 2017*, Hayduk 2017*, Villodas 2016, Zorc 2013).

Children age 6 or older in kinship care are less likely to have behavioral problems than peers in non-kinship foster care (Wu 2015*, Perry 2018*); infants in kinship care are also less likely to have developmental delays (Stacks 2011). African American children who live with younger or healthier kinship caregivers appear less likely to have behavioral problems than those who live with older or less healthy caregivers (Rufa 2016). Kinship foster care placement laws appear to lead to greater numbers of kinship placements and a higher stability of placement in the short-term, and greater levels of child safety in the long-term (Hayduk 2017*).

Children in kinship care are as likely to reunite with their parents as children in non-kinship foster care (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*). Children in unlicensed kinship care are more likely to reunite with their parents than children in licensed kinship care (Ryan 2016*). Kinship care appears to lead to more guardianships and fewer adoptions than non-kinship foster care (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, Bell 2017*). Kinship caregivers are less likely to use mental health services for foster children than non-kin foster parents, perhaps due to caregiver’s characteristics and their relationship with the child welfare system, and differences in service needs (Cochrane-Winokur 2014*, Coleman 2016*, Swanke 2016*).   

Researchers suggest that kinship caregivers feel more committed to a child than non-kinship caregivers and are more likely to continue caring for the child despite behavioral problems and other difficulties (Rock 2015*, Farmer 2010*). Placements with grandparents may be especially likely to last. Supervision while children visit their parents may improve kinship placement stability (Farmer 2010*). Experts recommend financial and service support for kinship caregivers to increase the quality and permanency of placement (RAND-Ringel 2017).

As of 2014, 49 states and Washington DC legally prioritize or emphasize the importance of relative foster placement; West Virginia has no such legislation in place (CWIG-Foster care statutes).

As of September 2016, about 437,500 children are in out-of-home placement in the US: 32% of them are in kinship care and 45% are in non-kinship foster care (US DHHS-AFCARS 2017).