Kinship Care | Better Care Network

Kinship Care

Kinship care is the full-time care of a child by a relative or another member of the extended family. This type of arrangement is the most common form of out of home care throughout the world and is typically arranged without formal legal proceedings. In many developing countries, it is essentially the only form of alternative family care available on a significant scale.

In the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, kinship care is the primary mechanism that has enabled a vast majority of children who have lost both parents to remain in family care in their community.

Kinship care offers many advantages over other forms of care for children not able to live with their parents. It allows family relationships to continue, maintains the child within her culture and community, and avoids the anxieties related to placements with unfamiliar adults.

Kinship care is more successful with immediate family members, rather than distant relatives. Children may be treated differently than the caretaker’s own children, and exploited, abused or denied access to education and health services. Kinship care has also been shown to result in the delayed reunification of a child and parents, either because the family is comfortable with the situation, there are financial disincentives for returning the child, or social services are less active in moving the case forward.

In order to reduce the incidence of such problems, the use of kinship care should be appropriately monitored by the local authority or a protection agency. Children in kinship care have a right to protection and family support services. However, it must be recognized that kinship care has a positive effect on many children's lives. Placing requirements on kinship arrangements that unnecessarily intefere with or interrupt this traditional caretaking practice should be avoided.

Kinship care may be an option for child protection agencies to consider when a child is without adequate family care. The decision to use kinship care will depend on what is in the child’s best interests, and should involve a careful assessment of the child’s opinions, the family’s ability to care for the child, and permanency planning in order to work towards timely family reunification. Financial support is an area for debate since, while it can enable a family to care for a child, it may also encourage relatives to keep a child for monetary gain.

The resources found in this section provide policy guidance and country examples on the use of kinship care.

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A Continuum of Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

Amanda Cox, Sarah Gesiriech, Kerry Olson, Krystel Porter - Faith to Action Initiative, 01 Aug 2015

A Continuum of Care provides an overview of a range of alternative care options for children who have been separated from parental care.

Continuidad en el Cuidado de Huérfanos y Niños Vulnerables

Faith to Action Initiative, 01 Aug 2015

Esta guía es la tercera publicación en una serie producida por the Faith to Action Initiative (Iniciativa de Fe en Acción) para proporcionar a las iglesias, a las organizaciones basadas en la fe, e individuos de fe con información para ayudar a guiar la “mejor práctica”. La guía proporciona una visión general de una gama de opciones de cuidado alternativo para los niños que han sido separados del cuidado parental.

Are children safer with kin? A comparison of maltreatment risk in out-of-home care

Sara Font, 01 Jul 2015

Safety, or the absence of maltreatment, is the primary mandate of the child protection services (CPS) system, both for children living at home and those living away from home. Yet, few research studies have examined maltreatment in out-of-home care due to the low incidence rate and data limitations. This study used statewide administrative data to estimate the association between placement type and experiencing a maltreatment investigation or substantiation in out-of-home care.

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Jumping Hurdles: the myriad of issues and barriers for incarcerated mothers to regain custody of children

Una Stone, Marg Liddell, and Marietta Martinovic - Justice Policy Journal, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2015, 08 Jun 2015

This paper describes the myriad of issues and barriers that Australian mothers face on exiting prison in their attempts to regain parental responsibility of their children.

การศึกษาทบทวนด้านการเลี้ยงดูทดแทนในประเทศไทย: นโยบายสู่การปฏิบัติโดยมุ่งเน้นเด็กที่ได้รับผลกระทบจาก เอชไอวี/เอดส์ (CABA)

UNICEF, 01 May 2015

The purpose of this research was to capture more accurate and detailed information regarding children in various forms of alternative care in Thailand.

Country Care Review: Germany

Better Care Network, 17 Apr 2015

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Public Perceptions, Beliefs and Experiences of Fostering and Adoption: A National Qualitative Study in South Africa

Tamsen J Rochat, Zitha Mokomane, Joanie Mitchell, The Directorate - Children & Society , 17 Apr 2015

This qualitative research explored perceptions, beliefs, and experiences of adoption and fostering among a national sample of childless adults, biological parents, kin and non-kin fostering parents and prospective and successful adopters.

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"Watoto Ndio Taifa la Kesho" Children are the nation of the future - Save the Children's Research Initiative: Understanding and improving informal alternative care mechanism to increase the care and protection of children

Save the Children, 15 Apr 2015

Save the Children extended Kinship Care research begun in West Central Africa in 2012 across East Africa in 2014, and this paper presents the findings for Zanzibar.

Kinship Care Album: Zanzibar

Save the Children, 13 Apr 2015

This album is a compilation of information collected from children and young people during the Kinship Care research in Zanzibar by Save the Children.

Replicable Models for Transition to Family-Based Care

Christian Alliance for Orphans, 01 Apr 2015

The organizations profiled in these case studies have pioneered effective transitions from residential to family-based care.