Recent e-briefs described state grants to reduce racial disparities in child protection programs.
This week highlights kinship foster care funding awarded to the African American Child Protection Work Group. Based on Lutheran Social Service’s Karegiver model, this project helps relatives become licensed foster parents so they can afford to care for their kin. It also trains them to manage trauma-related behaviors and helps with court proceedings.
A University of California report suggests that kinship care produces a 70% reduction in disrupted placements, a leading cause of poor adult outcomes.
Other research shows related results. For example Meloy and Phillips found that kinship foster parents are 41% more likely to access child care, lowering placement disruptions by 61%.
A successful pilot could expand to more African American families and other communities.