8.2 Why Kinship Care?

The explosion in the number of children in formal kinship care is a result of a number of legal, social work and societal changes. First, there was a large increase in the numbers of children coming into care due to "high rates of family disruption and intractable urban problems such as street violence, drug abuse and eventually the AIDS epidemic

." At the same time, the exit rate (number of children leaving care) slowed and the number of foster homes began to drop due in part to the "rise in two-worker families, geographic mobility and other sociological trends."

More children in care coupled with a drop in the number of foster homes created a shortage of spaces where children could be placed. Increasingly, caseworkers turned to relatives to care for children who had no place to go. Kinship care research pointed to a number of factors which supported the use of relatives as a placement resource. They include:

· Children placed in kinship care are more likely to retain their family connections, neighborhood, culture, language and heritage

· Because children usually know and have a relationship with relatives, kinship care can ease the pain of child welfare intervention and placement

· Kinship care often allows siblings to be placed together

· Kinship care often allows ongoing and frequent parental contact that can facilitate reunification and minimize the pain of separation.

· Kinship care and the use of a naturally occurring support system which is already in existence is important in post-reunification because these systems remain in place functioning long after child welfare closes a case.

· Kinship care is an available alternative to the shortage of foster homes.