This 138-page report was completed in compliance with a study required by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. The report includes a summary of findings on kinship care, from research compiled by the Urban Institute. Major findings include statistics on the use of kinship care, costs and funding of kinship care, comparison of state policies on kinship care, characteristics of kinship care households, why children enter kinship care, services to kinship caregivers and birth parents, birth parent access to children in kinship care, and permanency planning for kinship care children. The study concludes with a report given to Congress by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the report summarizes DHHS conclusions and recommendations on kinship care, based on the contracted research, input from an advisory panel, and internal deliberations. This report is useful for its comprehensive government-commissioned research, its delineation of the DHHS positions on the use of kinship care in the United States, and recommendations of areas for further study.
