State Implementation of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act

Eun Koh,Eunju Lee,Allysa Ware

doi:10.18060/23942

Abstract

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FC Act) has been in place for over 10 years. However, children in kinship care continue to receive fewer benefits, supports, and access to resources due to challenges with fully integrating kinship care into the child welfare system. The current study explored the state implementation of the FC Act with a focus on kinship care. Representatives from 15 states across the U.S. completed an online survey focused on their state’s response to the FC Act, and 14 participated in a follow-up survey on their states’ plan for kinship navigator programs with the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (FFPSA). The findings show that the most common change after the FC Act was observed in the Act’s mandatory requirement to identify and search for kinship caregivers. States were less likely to implement non-mandated services or programs despite their potential benefits. In response to the FFPSA, states were looking for opportunities to learn from other states implementing kinship navigator programs. More support and oversight from the federal government are needed to promote successful policy implementation at the state level. In addition, social work practitioners need to be aware of programs and legislation on kinship care in order to advocate for and ensure the well-being of children and caregivers who provide kinship care.

Highlights

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FC Act) has been in place for over 10 years
Children enter kinship care either through informal arrangements based on an agreement among family members or through an arrangement facilitated by the public child welfare system (CWIG, 2016)
The study aimed to expand our knowledge of the FC Act’s impact on states’ practice and policy around kinship care. While it has been over ten years since the passage of the FC Act, our understanding of the extent to which the Act has changed state-level kinship care practice and policies is limited

Summary

Introduction

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FC Act) has been in place for over 10 years. Kinship care refers to full-time care of children by grandparents, other relatives, and family friends (Child Welfare Information Gateway [CWIG], 2016). Children enter kinship care either through informal arrangements based on an agreement among family members or through an arrangement facilitated by the public child welfare system (CWIG, 2016). Children can be formally placed with kin as a foster care placement with the state retaining legal custody (Malm et al, 2019). It is estimated that approximately half of children in need of an out-of-home placement after maltreatment investigation are placed in kinship care outside of the public child welfare or foster care system (Malm et al, 2019; Walsh, 2013). Children in kinship and nonkinship foster homes were reported to be similar in their length of stay in foster care and the likelihood of reunification (Winokur et al, 2018)

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