Finalized kin-specific licensing or approval standards, guidance and template forms for kinship foster family homes developed by national organizations with input from kin caregivers, subject matter experts, and at least 45 title IV-E agencies. These Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval Standards respect the unique circumstances of kin caregivers, removing historic barriers and striving to make the approval process more flexible for kin caregivers.  -- For sample template forms please visit this page.   -- Visit this page in Spanish

Resource showing where states, territories, and tribes are in the process of adopting kin-specific licensing standards. The map and chart are current as of 3/20/25, and will be periodically updated. Click on the states on the map who have been approved to see their kin-specific licensing policies, procedures, and resources.

Kin caregivers often need legal support to navigate the child welfare system and access services for children in their care. There are many helpful models of providing legal assistance to kin caregivers around the country. This resource produced by the ABA Center on Children and the Law and the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network summarizes those models and provides profiles of organizations doing good work. The goal is to provide replicable ideas to others wanting to provide supportive legal assistance to kinship families in their communities.

This tool provides 5 steps to support title IV-E agencies and collaborative partners in the implementation of the federal rule allowing for kin-specific foster care licensing. It includes an overview of federal foster home licensing requirements, how to analyze jurisdictional needs, tips on collaboration, and a guidance on evaluating progress. 

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network produced this resource to offer service providers in public, private, nonprofit, and community-based organizations basic information about federal programs that can be used to finance kinship services and programs. Information includes which federal agency administers the funding source, services the funding source can finance, and basic eligibility information. This funding primer is not intended to be an in-depth explanation of each source but, rather, a high-level overview that can be used to aid further research. For more detail on specific types of funding, view the pages for: Discretionary Grants Entitlements Block Grants Loans/Loan Guarantees In-Kind Support

Series of resources based on a comprehensive survey of kinship care policies that identifies increasing efforts by states to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers of children and youth who are known to the child welfare system. The series includes an Executive Summary, and briefs describing: 1: Policies that support licensure of kinship foster parents; 2: Policies that affect unlicensed kinship caregivers; 3: Policies that govern kinship diversion; 4: Policies that encourage agencies to engage and partner with kinship caregivers, the children in their care, and parents; and 5: Policies that include the perspectives of kinship care families in designing solutions.

The report, “Pathways to Success: K-12 Education Support for Kinship and Grandfamilies,” discusses how about 2.5 million children in grandfamilies and kinship families are impacted by educational challenges and actionable recommendations to improve their school support and services. 

Summary of the final rule on legal representation issued by ACYF on May 9, 2024, and how it could impact legal services for kin caregivers. The rule allows Title IV-E agencies to use federal funds to cover the costs of legal representation, including for kinship caregivers. The rule also expands the types of legal proceedings that are eligible for this funding to include civil legal proceedings that may impact family preservation and placement stability, such as housing or benefit access.

Think of Us report that reviews and analyzes existing research about kinship care. This review aims to summarize what we know, identify remaining research gaps, and highlight areas where the social services sector, policymakers, and researchers can focus their efforts to best support children, kinship caregivers, and their families.

Think of Us report that identifies the cultural, experiential, and institutional strengths and challenges of kinship care in select counties in California, Indiana, and New Hampshire through on-the-ground field research with 255 youth, parents, and kin, as well as the 140 agency staff, 93 service providers, and 41 legal professionals that work with them. It also compiles existing kin-first practices through a landscape review and subject-matter expert interviews. 

Part 4 of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family Ties series based on a survey of state child welfare administrators. This resource examines state policies and strategies for identifying, notifying, and supporting kinship caregivers, as well as the availability of kinship navigator programs in each state.

The ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United, in partnership with Casey Family Programs, have created this practical kinship assessment tool with resource links to support the array of child welfare agencies—from those that are embarking on a kin-first journey to those that are continuously striving for quality improvement.

If you are a Native parent or relative caregiver (whether grandparent, other extended family member, or family friend) of a child who was removed from their parents by a state child welfare system, this resource prepared by the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is for you. 

This guidebook, developed by our partners at the National Indian Child Welfare Association, particularly Subject Matter Expert Terry L. Cross, MSW, ACSW, LCSW and Mariah Meyerholz, MSW, discusses several important considerations and suggests a process through which tribes can develop locally appropriate standards. It is based on the premise that foster care standards, including care by relatives, are most useful when developed by the tribal community in which they will be used and when a broad segment of that community participates in the development and implementation process.

Press release announcing new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation that identifies efforts by states, DC, and Puerto Rico to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers. It highlights progress made at reducing barriers to foster care licensing, long-standing inequities in financial assistance for kinship caregivers and new opportunities to address their needs. The survey’s data, collected in 2022 by Child Trends, and analysis will be shared in a series of six briefs addressing aspects of kinship care policy.

A collective advocacy tool created by Generations United, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, and Think of Us to guide our future work to support kinship families. The action agenda identifies and prioritizes key policy opportunities to support kinship families. It was created through a convening of national advocates, featuring professionals with diverse perspectives and individuals with lived experience in grandfamilies/kinship families, and incorporates feedback from the broader advocacy community, grandfamilies services providers, and focus groups with kinship caregivers from varied backgrounds.

Memo by the ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United examining the federal and state laws that prevent kinship caregivers from becoming licensed based on previous criminal convictions. The memo analyzes state laws and policies related to criminal licensing barriers and explores opportunities to change these policies based on the recent federal rule allowing kin-specific licensing standards.

In recent years, record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children have crossed into the United States. While many of these children are soon reunited with and released to parents who are already in the U.S., upwards of 60 percent are released to sponsors who are kin. This tip sheet provides information and guidance to help you better serve these kinship families. 

The 2023 State of Grandfamilies Report - Building Resilience: Supporting Grandfamilies' Mental Health and Wellness aims to bring attention to the mental health and emotional wellness of grandfamilies, shed light on their resilience and challenges they face, and provide innovative solutions and resources to better support them. 

The US Administration for Children and Families approved a new rule allowing kin-specific licensing or approval standards for kinship foster homes.