If children and youth are removed from parents, they have better outcomes with kinship caregivers than non-kinship resource families. The benefits of kinship placements are many, including allowing children and youth to remain connected to their communities of origin.
In Washington state, 54% of children or youth removed from their parents are placed with kinship caregivers. How might we raise this rate to closer to 80%, and better support kinship caregivers?
We spoke with DCYF staff, community service providers, child placing agencies (CPAs), kinship caregivers, and former foster youth raised by kin to identify a path to a kin-first culture at DCYF.
Read the report here.
Watch the presentation here.
See the presentation slides here.