KINSHIP CARE IN CHILD-WELFARE - AN ANALYSIS OF STATES POLICIES

Dramatic growth in the number of children placed with their relatives and financially supported with foster care payments by the child welfare system has raised questions about the role of family and the role of government when children are in need of protection from abuse and neglect by their parents. This paper describes a study of states' policies on the use of kinship care as a child welfare service. Thirty-two states submitted documents containing their written policies related to kinship care. A description and analysis of these written policies revealed a lack of clarity, a lack of consistency across states and value conflicts regarding policies guiding placement of children with their relatives. The study points to a need to a clearly define the purpose and goals of kinship care as prerequisite to the development of policies and practice guidelines.