{"id":32062,"date":"2023-10-09T18:20:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T18:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caseyfamilyv2.wpengine.com\/kinship-values\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:19:17","slug":"valores-de-parentesco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/kinship-values\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfQu\u00e9 deben hacer todas las agencias de protecci\u00f3n infantil para garantizar que los ni\u00f1os sean acogidos por familiares?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summary<\/h3>\n

This report explains three key ways to help more children live with relatives when they are in the foster care system.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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When child protective services determines a child must be removed from the home and placed in foster care, that child deserves to be placed with kin. Those kin may be defined as relatives by blood or marriage, as well as other people who are close to the child and family to where the relationship is treated as \u201cchosen family,\u201d also known as fictive kin<\/a>. Like all children in out-of-home care, those placed with kin are entitled to resources and supports that help protect their safety, promote their well-being, and facilitate permanency \u2014 ideally through safe reunification with their family.<\/p>\n

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Keeping children with their kin when safely possible is a core principle of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the gold standard of child welfare practice<\/a>. There are other federal policies that support kinship caregivers<\/a>, such as the Family First Prevention Services Act<\/a>, which provides open-ended entitlement funding for important services.<\/p>\n

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This brief describes three key principles for prioritizing and supporting kinship placements in child welfare<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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  1. Advance a kin-first culture<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Provide supports for children, their parents, and kinship caregivers<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Identify and provide community-based supports<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      It offers questions for consideration to help child protection agency leaders further explore how they might apply these principles to improve the permanency and well-being of children in kinship care and their families.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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      Kinship care by the numbers<\/h3>\n

      Nationally, about 35% of all children placed in out-of-home care are living with kin. Trends vary across the country, with state-level rates ranging from 10% to 53%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n

      Source: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data, available through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect Data. Analyzed by Casey Family Programs, June 2022.<\/p>\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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      Principle 1<\/span><\/div>\n \n

      Advance a kin-first culture<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

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      Numerous studies<\/a> have established the benefits of kinship care. The research demonstrates that compared to non-kin foster care, kinship care yields greater placement stability<\/a>, lower rates of re-abuse, better behavioral health, and a higher likelihood of permanency. Despite these findings, child protection agencies place only about one-third of children in formal out-of-home care with kin, and the rates vary significantly among jurisdictions across the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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      When children are not with their family, they can experience a lot of confusion about who they are and where they come from. Knowing your family and culture, and being connected to those values and traditions, provide an important sense of stability.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      — Aleks Talsky, Alumnus of Foster Care and Board Member for the National Advisory Council for Children\u2019s Legal Representation, Wisconsin<\/cite><\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n
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      Accordingly, child welfare practice must shift universally to a kin-first approach<\/strong><\/a>, in which kinship placement is the<\/strong> expectation and goal<\/strong> rather than a practice exception or alternative, and all children in out-of-home care are placed safely with kin, who subsequently are provided with caregiver resources and supports<\/a>. An agency committed to a kin-first approach is centered on the input of the children and their family, seeks to explore and engage the whole family network, and strives to make every child\u2019s first \u2014 and only \u2014 placement with kin. In instances when placement with kin is not possible, the search for kin who can provide a safe home or connection for the child should be ongoing and include both maternal and paternal kin. A shift to a kin-first approach requires agency leadership to establish a strong vision, clear goals, and firm expectations for kinship placement \u2014 grounded in the value that children have a moral right to be with people they know<\/a> \u2014 followed by concrete changes to agency policies, frontline practices, and organizational culture.<\/p>\n

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      ICWA specifically promotes the rights of American Indian\/Alaska Native children to be connected to their tribe and their extended family, elders, community, and culture. Consultation with tribes must occur before placement decisions are made, and tribal definitions of family relationships must be respected.<\/p>\n

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      Several well-established child welfare approaches support the universal expectation and goal of placing children in out-of-home care with kin, including:<\/p>\n

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      1. Active engagement of families.<\/li>\n
      2. Reducing barriers to kinship care.<\/li>\n
      3. Creating administrative barriers for non-kin foster care placements.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          Active engagement of families<\/strong><\/h3>\n