Kinship Care Practice Research Articles

Cultural Imperatives on Indigenous Kinship Care among the Poumai Naga Tribe in Manipur, India

The increasing scale of human suffering in the world caused by disasters, wars, violence, conflicts, old age problems and other physical ailments has led to a high demand for care providers. Similarly, the demand for care providers in India is no different and arises from poverty, violence, communal riots, ethnic conflicts, development-induced displacements or climate change disasters. The problem of care has penetrated even into the domain of the private life of the family. Social practices associated with caring are highly valued in the sociocultural milieu. It is a new way of thinking about care that can be incorporated into the conception of social pedagogy. This study highlights the absence of intimate parental care due to many sociopolitical circumstances, which creates a vacuum in fostering early childhood care. The objectives were to determine the dilemmas faced by care providers in the limited resources division between their own and their kin’s child and the invisible social stigma associated with the tag of orphans. Kinship care practices among the indigenous Poumai Naga tribe involve alternative relational care to institutional care for children. The descriptive research design involved in-depth interviews with the elders, care receivers and care providers in the community. The article concludes that relational bonds, rather than obligatory senses, are the guiding factor for keeping children with them despite hardships and natural allure of sending them to institutional care.

Wisdom from the Elders: kinship care that honors traditional Indigenous ways

This study describes insights shared by Indigenous Elders in British Columbia, Canada, who were asked about kinship care practices involving Indigenous children. It arises from a community-guided research study that set out to explore how child welfare organizations that work with Indigenous children and families can develop kinship care practices that honor traditional Indigenous values, beliefs, and practices around kinship care. In-person interviews took place with eight Elders in the fall of 2022. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (a) kinship care as a traditional practice, (b) kinship care and current child welfare systems, and (c) creating kinship care practices that uphold traditional Indigenous values, beliefs, and practices. This article discusses these themes and their sub-themes and offers suggestions for child welfare organizations, policy-makers, and practitioners.

Mobilizing care? WeChat for older adults’ digital kinship and informal care in Wuhan households

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the digital amplify all aspects of our lives—work, sociality, health, intimacy, care, and inequality. In a time of restrictions and physical distancing, the role of the digital for social inclusion—especially for older adults—was heightened with many having to care at a distance. Our study focuses on older adults from Wuhan and the role of the dominant social media app, WeChat, for intergenerational informal care through digital literacy during and after the pandemic. Often characterized in global media as the place where the virus began, many of the quotidian experiences of Wuhan people have been overlooked. We reflect upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Wuhan in 2020–2021 with 10 households. We are particularly interested in how kinship care practices in Wuhan households—as sites for complex configurations of intergenerational practices that converge digital, social, and material worlds—have shifted during the pandemic. We ask: what are the learnings, opportunities and limitations around smartphone apps like WeChat for informal care as part of filial piety? In sum, what are the possibilities and limitations for mobilizing care?

Regulating the traditional kinship care practice in Ghana: Reflections from young people with kinship care experience.

Kinship care has become a favourable alternative care option for orphans and vulnerable children without adequate parental care in Ghana. However, kinship care practices in Ghana are considered informal cultural practices without formal regulations. The absence of formal regulations could have consequences on the health and development of children due to the lack of proper supervision and empirical assessment of children's needs. In line with recent policy discussions on mechanisms to regulate informal kinship care practices, this study aimed to identify how the State could be involved in improving kinship care experience for children. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 young persons (aged 18-23) who had been received into kinship care to share their experiences on how the State could be involved in improving kinship care experience for children. Narratives from the young people were analysed following the constructivist grounded theory approach. Introduction of a welfare scheme for kinship caregivers, policy on child care, provision of start-up capital and training for caregivers, were measures suggested by the young people to improve kinship care practice. Providing start-up capital to kinship caregivers was identified to mitigate caregivers' unemployment challenges, which could have ripple effects on the well-being of children by escalating caregiver stress. The study's findings suggest that the State has a significant role to ensure that caregivers are equipped with the needed resources to provide adequate care for children. Regulating kinship care practices should embrace a strength-based empowerment model that builds on the capacity of the caregivers to ensure better outcomes for children. Studies that explore the views of policy makers and caregivers in a larger sample may yield promising results to complement the current findings.

Towards Culturally Specific Solutions: Evidence from Ghanaian Kinship Caregivers on Child Neglect Intervention

Recognising the signs and finding solutions to the risk and needs of neglected children remains a challenge in child protection practice despite a global increase in the number of reported child neglect cases. This situation is compounded by the impact of cultural practices on how neglect is perceived. Drawing on semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 31 kinship caregivers, this study sought to explore how the culturally informed traditional kinship care practice in Ghana can be considered an intervention strategy for parental neglect. Proactive intervention, prevention of abandonment and utilisation of family support emerged as ways kinship care practice can help resolve child neglect issues. This study's findings suggest that kinship care options could help prevent severe forms of child neglect and prevent instances of child neglect at their onset. The study highlights the importance of culture and tradition when considering approaches to addressing neglect of children, which could be adapted to other cultures as it provides learning regarding where it is safe to have the extended family involved from the beginning where there is suspected neglect.Key Practitioner Messages The traditional culturally informed kinship care practice in Ghana provides a proactive solution to address parental neglect. Child welfare workers should strengthen cultural approaches to address child neglect and support families by providing intervention measures. Child welfare workers should encourage kin or kith groups to promote reciprocal supportive relationships as this could be useful in providing protection for neglected children. ‘Explore[s] how the culturally informed traditional kinship care practice in Ghana can be considered an intervention strategy for parental neglect’

How did kinship care emerge as a significant form of placement for children in care? A comparative study of the experience in Ireland and Scotland

A notable development in child welfare provision in recent decades has been growth in certain jurisdictions of formal kinship care as a type of placement for children needing ‘out of home’ care. This trend raises the question of why formal kinship care has emerged in such a marked way in this period in some contexts. This paper sets out to explore this issue by investigating the emergence and development of formal kinship care in two neighboring jurisdictions in Europe where it now accounts for a substantial proportion of all care placements in Scotland and Ireland. The paper sets out a conceptual framework that considers the emergence of formal kinship care against the backdrop of the overall care systems in both jurisdictions and the wider set of societal kinship care practices relating to children. It traces key policy developments in the evolution of formal kinship care in both systems. It reviews policy challenges and influences that may help to account for the emergence and current relative importance of formal kinship care. This comparative case study aims to contribute to international debates about the development of formal kinship care.

Kin as Teachers: An early childhood education and support intervention for kinship families

Whereas child welfare has championed efforts in kinship care practice, policy, and research, there is a growing need for other systems of care, specifically early childhood education, to improve the ways in which kinship care families are supported. This study highlights outcomes from the Kin As Teachers (KAT) Program, an early childhood education program specifically designed for children living with a grandparent or other relative. KAT addresses the areas of parent knowledge and parenting practices, detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevention of child abuse and neglect, and promotion of school readiness and success. Current issues facing kinship families with young children are highlighted using quantitative data and case studies based on 83 grandparents and other relatives providing care for 185 children. Pre and post tests show results on age appropriate family environment and the caregivers' knowledge of child development. Two case studies describing the familial experience in KAT detail the process evaluation related to this intervention. Results indicate improved age appropriate family environment and an increase in caregivers' knowledge of child development for families participating in KAT. Implications for social work practice include suggestions for ways social workers and early childhood educators can better support kinship caregiving families.

Exploring Kinship Care through Practitioner Collaborative Enquiry

Chris Warren-Adamson reports on the proceedings of a collaborative enquiry group of eight social workers from one English local authority considering kinship or family and friends care practice. Facilitated by an academic, the group met once a month for the best part of a year to enquire into the implications for practitioners of the authority's strong policy of encouraging kinship placement for looked after children. The article briefly acknowledges the context of ‘kinship care’ and the collaborative enquiry process, before concentrating on a consideration of the challenges to kinship practice. The article concludes with a discussion about two inter-related sets of findings: first, technical or structural proposals about kinship practice; and second, enduring issues for social work practice, namely the overwhelming nature of complexity, the ill-management of anxiety and the questionable appropriateness of the agency office as a site for kinship care practice.

Kinship care connection: A school-based intervention for kinship caregivers and the children in their care

Whereas child welfare has championed efforts in kinship care practice, policy, and research, there is a growing need for other systems of care, specifically the school system, to improve the ways in which kinship care families are supported. This study highlights outcomes from the Kinship Care Connection (KCC), an innovative school-based intervention designed to increase children's self-esteem and to mediate kin caregiver burden. Current issues regarding the status of kinship caregiving families involved in the school system are highlighted using quantitative data and case studies based on: (1) 34 caregivers participating in support groups and case management services, including counseling, advocacy, and resource procurement, and (2) 63 children participating in tutoring, mentoring and counseling, advocacy, and resource procurement. Two case studies describing the familial experience in KCC will detail the process evaluation related to this intergenerational intervention. Results indicate increased self-esteem in children and mediated kin caregiver burden for families participating in the KCC. Implications for social work practice include suggestions for ways social workers and the school system can better support kinship caregiving families.

Kinship care for children in the UK: messages from research, lessons for policy and practice1

This article presents a comprehensive overview of kinship care, or as it is also known, family and friends care, paying particular attention to the UK child welfare, legal, policy/practice contexts. The aim of the article is to raise awareness, and provide information, about a hitherto largely invisible, yet expanding placement option being widely used in child welfare systems in the UK, in Europe and elsewhere. The article places kinship care within a UK and European child welfare legal context, including the European Convention on Human Rights 1998 [Articles 8 and 14] and European kinship care developments are also highlighted. It contains the main findings of a kinship care research study conducted by the author, based on interviews with children and young people living with kinship carers, as well as with the kinship carers. Following an examination of theoretical and policy issues, the article examines ways forward for developing and supporting kinship care. In the final section, and based on the research findings and literature review, a new paradigm for child welfare is introduced. It is argued that this new paradigm is necessary in order for kinship care practice and policy to develop within a supported and sustainable family support framework.