Helping Washington State Identify Ways to Support Kin Caregivers

Project Context:

• When children who have been removed from their parents are cared for by kin or by a trusted adult the child already knows, they can more easily maintain sibling ties, better preserve their cultural identity, and are more likely to have a stable placement.
• In Washington, as in many other states, kin caregivers often do not have access to the same resources as licensed foster families. This is primarily because systems are designed around the traditional foster family model. Kin families may not know about available services, or even if they do, may hesitate to contact public agencies.
• The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) wanted to consider ways to better support kin caregivers. Kin caregivers were especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as some foster families were more hesitant to accept placements.

How the GPL Supported:

• Reviewed national best practices and then interviewed DCYF program and field staff in regions that had much higher rates of placement with kin to identify their effective processes.
  • Created a detailed process map of kinship placement and licensing processes so DCYF could more clearly identify pain points and opportunities for growth.
• Helped DCYF identify cost-neutral ways to support kin caregivers. These included suggestions such as:
  • Identifying processes to more consistently identify and follow up with kin who could accept a placement.
  • Simplifying the letters sent to potential caregivers so they were easier to understand.
  • Creating a new list of kin supports to share with families.
• Helped DCYF identify longer-term solutions that could help build a kin-first agency mindset. These included ideas such as:
  • Requiring a pre-placement checklist to ensure all kin options have been exhausted before placing with a foster-care provider.
  • Redesigning the home study process to be easier to navigate for both kin caregiving families and staff.