Kinship care and the adoption process can present a child with multiple non-permanent transitions. ![]() It is also common for children and families to move among these three categories. ![]() ![]() These categories underscore the spectrum of kinship care situations, with many children privately passing from parents to relatives, whereas other children may pass through the child welfare system before being formally adopted by kin, while still others may live with relatives temporarily but end up back in foster care. In addition to this population of children in kinship families in the foster care system, there are two other categories of kinship care or adoption: 1) private or informal care, where families make arrangements with or without legal recognition of a caregiver’s status 2) diversion kinship care, where children who have come to the attention of child welfare agencies end up living with a relative or close friend of the family. In the U.S., the average time children wait to achieve permanency is 32.7 months. Kinship Adoption refers to the formal process of “the full-time protecting and nurturing of children by grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, older siblings, non-related extended family members, and anyone to whom children and parents ascribe a family relationship.” How Kinship Care and Adoption Work Domestic Kinship AdoptionsĪs of 2020, 27 percent of children who are in foster care waiting for adoption are in kin placements. Domestically, this process often begins by helping birth parents search for a relative to care for a child who is at-risk or who has entered or will enter the foster care system. Today, organizations and agencies are often called upon to help families formalize kinship care. Kinship adoption comes out of this history of formalizing and creating legal systems around caring for children whose parents are unable to do so. In a post-industrialized, global world, kinship care requires rethinking and clarifying the needs of all involved, including articulating proactive steps for professionals to support healthy adjustments and transitions while prioritizing a child’s best interests. Throughout history, kinship care has been prioritized over placement in an orphanage or foster care because of the belief that children are always better off with biological relatives than with non-family members, which has led to legislation and financial incentives to promote kinship care. Today there is often a gap in understanding how to address the needs of children who have experienced hardship and trauma and a lack of consistency in how to best support and educate families stepping in to care for these children. However, because of these informal roots, many involved in kinship care and adoption are not receiving the necessary support to make permanent placement for these children secure and successful. This common practice of relying on relatives to help raise children still exists alongside formalized domestic and international adoption and foster care programs. For centuries, when parents felt unable to raise a child or protect their safety for a period of time or indefinitely, they often reached out to relatives to step in and care for a child or children. For the wellbeing of these children and their families, as well as for the professionals who serve them, we must take a more critical look at the current practices of kinship care and adoption.īefore formal adoption policies were established either in the United States or abroad, kinship care was a common practice in most cultures around the world. These families have been formed through both formal and informal processes. ![]() 1h7r5oj:disabled.In the U.S, almost 2.7 million children are currently being raised by kin-family members other than their parents.
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