Stronger Kinship Diversion Policies Are Needed to Support Children and Caregivers
Most child welfare agencies facilitate kinship caregiving arrangements — when relatives step up to raise children when their parents can’t care for them — without moving a child into state custody and formal foster care. Known as kinship diversion, it is a common practice used to keep children out of foster care. Yet, many states that allow the intervention lack policies that would help ensure children’s safety, parents’ legal rights and kinship caregivers’ ability to provide adequate care.
New Insights on State Kinship Diversion Policies highlights findings from a 2022 survey of child welfare administrators in which jurisdictions reported on their policies for creating, overseeing and tracking diversion arrangements. It is the latest report in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Family Ties: Analysis From a State-by-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies series.
The survey, conducted by Child Trends at the request of the Casey Foundation, included all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Agencies also reported on the resources they made available for children and kinship caregivers in diversion arrangements.
“Families should have the ability to make arrangements with kin for the care of their children at a moment of crisis or stress, in safe and supported ways that make sense for them — as families have done for ages,” New Insights states. “They should be free to do so without unnecessary government intervention.” The report maintains that when a child welfare agency steps in to facilitate this type of arrangement, the agency has a unique responsibility to ensure, at a minimum:
- parents and caregivers are informed of the options in their jurisdiction and are the ultimate decision-makers about arrangements that divert children from foster care;
- children are safe; and
- kinship caregivers and children in their care have the resources they need.
“It’s critical for the field to clarify the appropriate role of government when caring for children who must temporarily or permanently reside with kin,” said Todd Lloyd, senior associate for Child Welfare Policy at the Foundation. “Stronger public policy is needed to spur best practices.”
Key Findings of New Insights on State Kinship Diversion Policies
New Insights confirms that kinship diversion takes many forms, including:
- documented and supported with resources;
- arranged with parents’ full consent; and
- decided by a child welfare agency.
Because states define and practice kinship diversion differently and because there are no federal reporting requirements on diversion practices, the child welfare field lacks important data to explain how well diversion practices meet these responsibilities.
The report’s findings advance the field’s understanding of diversion interventions for which limited data have been publicly available. It shares that:
- Only 15 jurisdictions that allow kinship diversion required child welfare agencies to provide direct assistance and resources to the kinship caregivers. In most states, children and caregivers in kinship diversion arrangements have significantly less access to services and financial support than those in licensed or unlicensed kinship care placements, in which the children are in the custody of the child welfare agency.
- Only one-third of states with kinship diversion policies granted parents the final decision-making authority in these arrangements. In other states, a child welfare agency may separate a child from parents and direct the kinship placement without court oversight and time limits for placements that come with formally taking the child into state custody.
- Agency involvement in kinship diversion arrangements varied dramatically by jurisdiction. Some states required the agency to investigate, open a case, monitor or set time limits for kinship diversion placements. Only two states required court oversight in these arrangements.
- Although almost half of the states that allow kinship diversion reported that they track diversion arrangements. Few collected data that would enable them to report publicly how many children have been diverted or their outcomes; how many reunify with their parents; and how many of these kinship arrangements receive assistance, support or monitoring from the agencies.
“Clear policy gaps exist across all states when it comes to ensuring children, their parents and kinship caregivers are adequately protected, informed and resourced. The survey reveals how inequitably children and kin caregivers are being treated in diversion arrangements, which should be unacceptable,” said Lloyd.
A Kinship Diversion Call to Action
The report calls on federal, state and community leaders to examine their current kinship diversion practices and policies in collaboration with kinship caregivers to determine the following:
- Are parents and caregivers fully informed of the implications and potential length of these arrangements, their rights and any available services to help them toward reunification?
- Do parents have the ultimate authority regarding the placement of their child?
- What mechanisms are in place to ensure children in kinship diversion arrangements are protected from harm, such as background checks on potential caregivers and regular monitoring?
- How are kinship caregivers supported with financial assistance, health care access, education and other vital services?
- Do child welfare agencies have the tools and capacity for adequate data collection and analysis to determine the outcomes of kinship diversion for children, caregivers and parents?
- Are kinship diversion arrangements offered equitably as an alternative to foster care?
“Child welfare agencies are utilizing kinship care because connections to family provide children and youth stability, belonging, community and culture,” said Leslie Gross, director of the Foundation’s Family Well-Being Strategy Group. “States increasingly rely on relatives and family friends to step up in times of need, so we must strengthen policies, practices and oversight to ensure children, youth and their families receive the resources and supports they need to thrive.”
Explore more Casey Foundation resources on kinship care:
Unlocking foster care licensing for more kinship caregivers
