Helping the Administration for Children and Families Increase Access to Supports for Informal Kin Families

Project Context: 

• State and federal resources have historically focused on supporting traditional foster parents, leaving kin caregivers with little support as they navigate new challenges of caring for children who are not their own. This is most true for informal kin families – relatives stepping in to care for a child outside of the child welfare system. 
• One goal of the federally funded, state-administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is to assist families experiencing financial need so children can be cared for in their own homes or with relatives. TANF is one of the few financial supports available to informal kin families.  
  • One in five TANF grants currently go to nonparent households, but with an estimated 2.5 million children living in various kinship settings, the majority are not accessing financial support through TANF. 
• The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) was exploring approaches to increasing the share of informal kin families accessing TANF as one way to support kinship families and prevent child welfare involvement.  

How the GPL Supported: 

• Researched TANF child-only grants and interviewed ACF staff to compile information about TANF. 
• Interviewed and conducted focus groups with informal kin caregivers, TANF providers, regional program managers, kinship navigators and policy experts in four states: Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington.