State Child Welfare Policy Guide: Part of the Policy Matters Series

3. Lifelong Family Connections

Connections with relatives and other adults with whom a child has a significant emotional relationship (fictive kin) are critical to a child’s sense of identity and a cornerstone of emotional and social development. Relationships with family members help children develop and retain a sense of connection with their racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious or spiritual heritage. In many cultures, the child’s very identity may be defined by connections to relatives, godparents and other family friends, clan, and tribe, and it is common practice for members of the kinship network to be an active, continuous, and permanent part of the child’s life. In addition, relatives and other adults with strong emotional connections are important members of a child’s safety net and sources of emotional and physical nurturing.

Children and youth who have been removed from their parents and other family due to child abuse or neglect report broken family connections leave them feeling alone and confused about their identities. When children in out-of-home care run away, they usually run home to a family member due to the distinct emotional connection they feel with their birth families and their urge to reconnect or to remain connected. [i] A large study of foster care alumni found that almost all the young adults had maintained at least some family ties, often despite many years in foster care, and 77 percent reported feeling very close to a family member, especially a sibling. [ii] In addition, a growing body of rigorous research and evidence from the field reports the benefits for vulnerable children who can thrive within their own homes or alternatively be raised by willing and able kin. [iii]

Connections with kin also are a crucial strategy for reducing racial disproportionality within the foster care and larger child welfare system. Beyond reducing disproportionality, kinship connections can help to improve a broad array of outcomes for children and families of color.

To strengthen lifelong family connections and the benefits of familial relationships for vulnerable children requires a continuum of ongoing efforts. Policies throughout this report help to build that continuum.

The first priority is strengthening and preserving birth families, so children can be safe and thrive without experiencing the harm of separation. (See Policy Area 1, Family Supports and Policy Area 2, Family Preservation and Reunification) Kin often help prevent out-of-home placement by providing respite care, financial assistance, and other support for parents striving to care for their children. If a child must be removed from his or her family, the goal is to reunify the family as quickly as it is safe and possible. (See Policy Area 2, Family Preservation and Reunification.) Here again, the extended family can assist in planning for the child’s safety and development because they often contribute important information and perspectives about the child’s and parents’ strengths and needs, the child’s cultural heritage and practices, and potential sources of support. Strong emotional and familial bonds make kin the first resource of choice when a child is unable to remain with his or her parents, even temporarily. (See Policy Area 4, Supports for Kinship Caregiving.) Kinship care includes both:

• “Informal” kinship care when a relative or other adult with close emotional ties assumes physical custody of the child without involvement of the child welfare system or without transferring legal custody to the child welfare agency, and

• “Formal” kinship care or kinship foster care when a relative becomes a licensed foster parent.

Children placed in relative foster care experience a number of advantages compared to children in non-relative care, including the likelihood that they will be placed with their siblings – yet another way to maintain family connections. For children in out-of-home placement, frequent and meaningful contact with siblings, parents and other kin helps to sustain family relationships and often aids in successful reunification.

When a child cannot be reunified safely with his or her parents, a home with caring, willing and able kin is the preferred option for legal permanency, either through adoption or permanent legal guardianship. (See Policy Area 4, Support for Kinship Caregiving.) Transfer of legal custody to kin helps to ensure that the child’s familial ties will be life long. Ensuring that no child leaves foster care without ongoing connections with kin is one part of a complete strategy for a successful transition to adulthood for the 20,000 children who age out of foster care each year [iv] . (See Policy 8.7, Youth in Transition to Adulthood, Permanent connections to caring kin.)

Specific state policy options are presented for each of the following areas:

3.1 Location and engagement of kin

3.2 Family visitation

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