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 Review of Kinship Carer Surveys: The “Cinderella” of the Care System?

Meredith Kiraly - Child Family Community Australia Paper No. 31 , 2015

This paper systematically reviews surveys of kinship carers in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to identify messages for policy and practice about the characteristics and support needs of kinship care families.

Critical Self-Reflection Questions for Professionals Who Work with Grandfamilies

Megan L. Dolbin-MacNab - GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy , 2015

This practice brief provides an overview of critical self-reflection questions that can be used, in a variety of ways, for training purposes for professionals in the US who work with grandparents raising grandchildren.

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Practice Recommendations for Mental Health Professionals: Perspectives from Grandparents and their Adolescent Grandchildren

Kendra A. O'Hora and Megan L. Dolbin-Mac - GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy , 2015

To gain insight into how practitioners can best meet the needs of grandfamilies, 40 custodial grandmothers and their adolescent grandchildren were interviewed in this study.

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Sibling Placement and Contact in Out-Of-Home Care

Dr. Joseph J. McDowall - Create Foundation, 2015

This research report analyzes the contributing factors in children and youth’s ability to be placed in care alongside siblings, as well as how caseworkers view sibling placements in Australia’s child welfare system.

A Sense of Belonging: Understanding and improving informal alternative care mechanisms to increase the care and protection of children

Save the Children , 2015

This report presents research conducted by Save the Children in East Africa. The aim of this research was to build knowledge on endogenous care practices within families and communities, especially informal kinship care, in order to increase the care and protection of children. The research on kinship care was implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zanzibar.

Journeys of Faith Study Series

Faith to Action Initiative, 2015

This six-part study series from the Faith to Action Initiative, Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children: A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith, is designed to support small faith group study accompanying ‘Journeys of Faith: A Resource Guide for Orphan Care Ministries Helping Children in Africa & Beyond.’

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Model Guidelines for Foster Care, 2015 - India

Ministry of Women and Child Development, India, 2015

These Guidelines for Foster care aim to protect the well-being of children in India who are deprived of family care or who are at risk of being so.

Kinship Care Research: Save the Children, Tulinde Watoto Wetu

Save the Children, 2015

This participatory research confirms that kinship care is widely practiced in many Kenyan communities as noted through the participatory engagement with communities in Busia County.

Kinship Care Album: Syrian refugee children in Jordan

Save the Children, 16 Dec 2014

This Album on Kinship Care is a compilation of the works of Syrian refugee children in kinship care and their adult caregivers who took part in the participatory action research undertaken by Save the Children and the Information and Research Center – King Hussein Foundation in Jordan in 2014 in the Zaatari Camp and in the city of Amman.

Kinship Care Album: Syrian refugee children in Jordan (Arabic Version)

Save the Children, 16 Dec 2014