Kinship navigation: Facilitating permanency and equity for youth in child welfare

Abstract

Kinship care has come to be seen as a way to potentially minimize some risks of traditional foster care, provide an opportunity for youth to remain connected to their extended families, and facilitate ongoing relationships and development. Previous work has suggested potential benefits of kinship placements for youth, but also challenges in identifying viable kin caregivers and providing adequate supports and guidance for these families. Kinship Navigation has been developed to formally and systematically assure placement options and supports for caregivers. At present, however, there is relatively little empirical work on the benefits and outcomes of Kinship Navigation programs.This manuscript examines permanency outcomes for youth served by one kinship care agency: A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI). Countywide data are used to compare episode-of-care permanency outcomes for youth served by ASCI’s Kinship Navigator program with those served by other agencies without Kinship Navigation, who were removed from their homes during the same 27-month period (January 2017 – March 2020). The sample includes 1108 youth (471 served via ASCI KN; 637 in non-KN programs). Kinship Navigation was associated with significantly higher rates of Permanent Legal Custodianship and decreased disparities in outcomes between African American and White youth. These results suggest that ASCI’s Kinship Navigator program is promising for securing family-centered permanency and increasing positive outcomes for African American children and adolescents. Additional work is needed to more fully explore the key processes, families’ experiences, and broader outcomes.