To help build an understanding of the full landscape of kinship policies across states and to identify needed improvements, the Annie E. Casey Foundation asked Child Trends to conduct a survey of state child welfare administrators.
Key findings:
- From 2007 to 2021, kin placements for children and youth grew from 26% of placements in 2007 to 35% in 2021, an increase of nearly 10 percentage points.
- Kinship caregivers do not have equal access to the same level of support and financial assistance, even though they have taken on the same labor of love and face similar expenses.
- For many families who are willing to take in a relative’s child on short notice — such as grandparents on fixed incomes — support and assistance from child welfare agencies may be limited.
