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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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

Grandmothers and Children’s Schooling in 33 Sub-Saharan African Countries

Sandor Schrijner and Jeroen Smits , 01 Nov 2014

This study examines the effect of the presence of a grandmother in the household on the child in 33 Sub-Saharan African countries. The study focuses on the effect the grandmother’s presence has on the child’s educational participation, considering a range of circumstances.

Peeling Back the Layers - Kinship Care in Victoria

Rachel Breman - Baptcare Research Unit in partnership with OzChild and Anchor, 01 Oct 2014

Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor - three organizations that provide kinship care services in Victoria, Australia - commissioned this research to explore the impact that complexity in care arrangements has on children and families in kinship care.

Guidelines for the Alternative Family Care of Children in Kenya

Government of the Republic of Kenya and UNICEF, 01 Oct 2014

The initial goal of the development of these guidelines was to seek to regulate Guardianship and Foster Care of children in Kenya.

Children’s Social Protection System in the Republic of Armenia

Lilit Petrosyan - National Statistical Service, Republic of Armenia, 18 Sep 2014

This report is prepared within the MONEE project of UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS. It provides an overview of alternative care in Armenia.

Capacity Building Plan to Implement the Guidelines for Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living in Liberia

Government of Liberia, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare - USAID, World Learning, Save the Children, Maestral International, 18 Sep 2014

This capacity building plan supports the implementation of the Liberian Guidelines for Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living.