KINSHIP FOSTER-CARE - PLACEMENT, SERVICE, AND OUTCOME ISSUES

Kinship foster care is now being debated. Issues have emerged about the cost of this care, the suitability of the kinship home, and agency supervision. Little data exist, however, about the functioning of miners in kinship foster care. Data from a Los Angeles County study of 990 adolescents in foster family care are used to compare 352 adolescents in kinship care to 638 adolescents in non-relative foster family care. The two groups are compared on placement history, placement adjustment, and agency monitoring. In addition, 160 foster adolescents with legal guardians were studied. Results indicate that the kinship placement is more stable and that adolescents in a relative's care are less likely to have a serious mental health problem. Overall, kinship care teens are doing no less well than their counterparts in foster family care. Neither group, however, is problem free. The data on monitoring and legal guardianship do suggest that services should be supplied with equal vigor to the kinship foster care minors.