Research shows that separating children from their families causes lasting trauma. Child protection agencies should exhaust all means to ensure children and families receive essential support to safely remain together. In instances when temporary out-of-home placement is necessary, finding the best possible family-based setting helps to mitigate trauma. Placement preferably should be with kin, but when kinship care is not possible, placing children in a safe family setting with a resource caregiver in their community is essential.

To ensure family-based placements meet the differing needs of children in the child welfare system, child protection agencies should actively recruit and retain resource caregivers from varied backgrounds. This Casey Family Programs brief highlights a menu of strategies for recruitment and retention of resource families, as well as a selection of tools and resources to help develop comprehensive, integrated recruitment and retention plans.

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a critical period and can be particularly difficult for youth aging out of foster care. Administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program supports youth in or formerly in foster care as they transition to adulthood. Selected state officials told the U.S. Government Accountability Office that they decide on their service array by using data, participant feedback, and information from other states. These officials also reported offering youth services based on individual skills and needs. The most widely used services in selected states are related to education, health, and housing.

This U.S. Government Accountability Office report addresses: (1) how selected states support youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood, (2) ACF resources for states on effective Chafee services, and (3) the extent that state and federal funds are used to support services for older youth.

During their work in multiple states, the Foster Insights team at the University of Chicago has observed notable trends in kin placement rates and the stability of kin placements. The Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network will host a webinar on September 29, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET to share these observed trends and discuss their implications for stakeholders across the child welfare space. There will be a discussion on what can be learned about kinship families using placement data, and how these data-driven insights can help further the case for a kinship-first culture.

Kinship families interact with many systems, including child welfare, education/schools, housing, Medicaid/Medicare, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Dealing with multiple systems is time-consuming and emotionally draining. TANF child-only grants are often the only source of ongoing financial support for these families. This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network resource outlines how TANF programs can help these families by facilitating or participating in cross-system collaboration and coordination while helping individual families navigate the challenging landscape.

Kinship families interact with many systems, including child welfare, education/schools, housing, Medicaid/Medicare, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Dealing with multiple systems is time-consuming and emotionally draining. Family Resource Centers (FRCs) can help by supporting individual families as they navigate this challenging landscape. This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network resource outlines how FRCs can serve as welcoming hubs of supports, services, and opportunities for families as they are well-positioned to assist kinship families and grandfamilies.

This Sutherland Institute report catalogs some important examples of how religious groups and those who belong to them provide important services not only to their own adherents but to their neighbors. The examples highlighted in the report are the provision of emergency relief, charitable giving, social services (particularly for the elderly, prisoners, vulnerable children, families in need, and the un- and under-employed), and medical care.

These Office for Family Assistance resources provide demographic data on adults and children in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families active families receiving cash assistance and closed cases. National and state-level data are available, as well as data on families receiving assistance through Separate State Program (SSP)-Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) programs.

This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network and National Indian Child Welfare Association tipsheet was developed for service providers to share with relatives/kin caring for Native children. It provides guidance to help caregivers access services, utilize the services effectively, and advocate for Native children in their care. This resource can support families to identify and connect to services such as childcare, behavioral health, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), TANF non-needy (child-only) grants, assistance with Social Security Income and other paperwork, and much more.