Kinship Care is Good for Foster Kids

Why is Kinship Care Good for Foster Children?

In many cultures, family support in times of need is a longstanding tradition. The United States foster care system includes the kinship care permanency option for youth in foster care. Social workers recognize that foster kids benefit from consistent care in a family unit.

When a foster child cannot live with a biological parent, the best alternative is clear. Living in a foster home with relatives ensures a child can maintain connections to their family of origin.

Relatives who are not their birth parents raise millions of children worldwide. Around 134,000 kids in U.S. foster care, or 35%, live with relatives who are their foster parents. Research indicates several benefits to children living with foster parents who are relatives.

Minimizing Trauma 

Children experience less trauma when placed in a foster family structure than in an institutional group home. Young people have even better outcomes when they live with relatives.

Removal from their home often means losing their nuclear family, including birth parents and siblings. Every child in foster care also experiences disruptions to home, school, pets, routines, family roles, and social life. Placement with family reduces their loss and improves the likelihood of siblings staying together.

When sibling groups stay together, they maintain stronger family relationships and support among themselves. Additional relatives often live nearby, which helps with school and community life and strengthens family bonds.

Enhancing Well-being 

Foster children are vulnerable to ongoing social and school pressures. They are more likely to be victims of abuse or neglect or to struggle with substance abuse. Children cared for by relatives typically enjoy greater stability, face fewer placement disruptions, and experience consistent schooling. These children often express higher satisfaction with their living situations and are less likely to run away from home.

Many foster parents fear they will have trouble connecting with foster teens. As a result, these young adults, especially teens in high school, have the most urgent need for care. When family members care for children, these foster children have better outcomes in life. When relatives become adoptive parents, teens benefit from their safety net of guidance and support.

Increasing Permanency  

Kinship placements offer higher levels of permanency than other foster arrangements. Children in kinship care have a lower chance of changing homes during foster care. They are more likely to benefit from family members who become their legal guardians or adoptive family.

Federal and state laws regulate the permanency process. Their goal is to find stable, permanent homes for foster children as quickly as possible.

Improving Behavioral and Mental Health  

Kinship care positively impacts children's emotional, behavioral, and mental health. Children in foster care with a relative have fewer behavioral issues and better mental health in adulthood. Early kinship placements also tend to reduce behavioral problems compared to placements after extended periods in foster care.

Promoting Sibling Connections 

Kinship care increases the likelihood that sibling groups will continue living together. A legal framework exists for protecting the relationships of siblings in foster care. However, sibling groups are often difficult to place in licensed foster homes.

Agencies separate siblings when they cannot find a family to take them in. Brothers and sisters who enter foster care together benefit from each other's presence and support. When they cannot stay together, their trauma increases and their individual outcomes worsen.

Supporting Older Youth and Teens 

For older children, connections with supportive family members are vital for their development and successful transition to independent adulthood. Teenagers are more likely to graduate from high school when they have a dependable home.

Kids need emotionally stable and committed adult connections. Kids who "age out" of foster care without support have the highest risk of homelessness and criminal behavior. Positive family dynamics can mitigate negative outcomes and help teens transition successfully into young adulthood.

Preserving Cultural and Community Ties

Children in kinship care maintain their cultural identities and community connections, preserving relationships with extended family and cultural practices. Living with family members often gives kids a more secure sense of self and a feeling that they belong.

Biological family members often provide innate cultural competence when raising foster kids. A person's cultural identity profoundly influences their sense of self and foundation of well-being.

Kinship Care is Good for Foster Children

Kinship care keeps children connected to their birth family, which is important for their growth, happiness, and long-term success. Supporting kinship caregivers in all states is crucial for ensuring children's permanency in care.

Finding kinship care options for foster children improves their short-term and long-term well-being. It helps to maintain their culture and family connections by growing up in a stable, familiar, family-oriented home.