Child welfare leaders in Broward County, Florida had introduced policies to further prioritize kin placements, which can help children maintain sibling ties and cultural identity.
These efforts included initial kin search requirements and increased stipends to caregivers. However, making kin placements was still challenging, especially for new staff navigating tough conversations and multiple case handoffs.
The GPL worked with ChildNet, the Community-Based Care (CBC) lead agency for both Broward and Palm Beach Counties, to introduce kin-first management strategies, staff trainings, and supports to further build a collaborative, kin-first culture that increases kin placement rates and placement stability across the county.
How the GPL Supported:
Worked with Broward County to strengthen the family finding information collection and documentation process across case handoffs between the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and ChildNet staff. This included:
Standardizing supports and documentation expectations for frontline staff surrounding initial kin search & placements.
Standardizing ChildNet’s continued family finding efforts when initial placement is not with kin, leading to more children being moved to relatives and fictive kin placements, like family friends, neighbors, or other trusted adults.
Developed multiple worksheets, toolkits, and resources to aid front-line staff in their search for kin caregivers and conversations with family members.
Consolidated supports and resources for new kin caregivers into a single, streamlined resource guide to help new caregivers get started
Co-developed and facilitated kin-first trainings with the Broward training team for all frontline staff, which is now offered to all new ChildNet staff.
Results:
From the start of GPL’s TA in July 2022 through December 2024, Broward County increased the share of placements with kin by 16 percentage points from 28% to 44%.
We take every opportunity to discuss our cases. It’s an ongoing conversation. We believe that we can’t stop talking about kinship placement. We can’t remove this from our focus right now; it can only get better.Sheryl Williams
MSW, Program Officer of Case Management & Adoptions at ChildNet, Broward County, Florida
1 / 1
Screenshots from an online training the GPL conducted with child welfare leaders in Broward County, Florida.
Screenshots from an online training the GPL conducted with child welfare leaders in Broward County, Florida.
We take every opportunity to discuss our cases. It’s an ongoing conversation. We believe that we can’t stop talking about kinship placement. We can’t remove this from our focus right now; it can only get better.Sheryl Williams
