Extols the advantages of kinship care –residence outside of a child’s own home, either temporarily or for the long term, with a relative (such as an adult brother or sister, a first cousin, a nephew or niece, an uncle or aunt or a grandparent, among others). Kinship care can help foster children maintain family and community relationships, sustain cultural traditions, and reduce racial disparities in placement. It also provides stability through the lower number of placements per child, higher percentage of siblings placed in the same home, and lower likelihood of re-entering the foster care system if reunited with parents. Children placed in kinship homes have more positive perceptions of their foster placement including “feeling loved” and wanting their current residence to be their permanent home, experience fewer behavior problems, and are less likely to run away. While it is commonly believed that kinship homes are as likely or even more likely to abuse or mistreat children, research showsthat non-kin placements are more than twice as likely to have a confirmed report of maltreatment than kinship placements. Increasing support for placement in kinship foster homes will greatly benefit children who cannot live with their own parents.
