Policy & Practice | Winter 2023

understanding and leveraging Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores play a vital role in reducing further trauma and producing healthier outcomes for the child. Removing legal, social, and financial barriers to support a broader set of kin is another essential practice. Many states have broadened their definition of kin to include non–blood-related relatives with pre-existing positive relation ships with the child. Policies to inquire about Indian tribal ancestry have also been implemented. Additionally, Arizona’s legislation to increase kinship caregiver stipends has addressed a sig nificant barrier for kinship supporters, improving the chances of relational per manency for children. Engaging kin more effectively neces sitates adopting a more empathetic and open-minded approach. Building trust and allowing kin to engage with the process in ways that suit them best, beyond just placement, can lead to more successful engagements. Rhode Island’s practice of speaking with each youth in group home facilities to discuss their placement options has resulted in moving many youth from group homes into kinship placements. Investing in a dedicated Family Finding team with specialized skills and resources has proven beneficial. This approach ensures a proficient, skilled workforce capable of providing timely services without interruption due to emergent health and safety pri orities. California’s funding grants for Family Finding and Engagement dem onstrate a commitment to improving Family Finding practices. Visual tools, such as online geno grams and other visualization aids like ecomaps and life books, can enhance workers’ understanding of relation ships in a child’s life. These tools help identify and engage additional kin, ultimately contributing to better decision making for the child’s care. To fully utilize the supportive relationships identified, agencies can implement policies inviting or requiring volunteer connections to attend family meetings. This approach enhances the child’s support system and bridges gaps in services.

6. Navigating Complex Family Dynamics: Engaging relatives and kin in the Family Finding process can be challenging, especially when legal and resource constraints impose time constraints. Empathetic conversations and adequate training are crucial to navigate these complex family dynamics effectively. 7. Poor Communication Channels and Fragmented Workflows: Current Family Finding processes are often manual, fragmented, and time consuming. Improved communication channels and inte grated workflows are necessary to exchange data and facilitate collabo ration among workers responsible for family finding, placement, and ongoing cases. Family Finding practices have garnered significant attention in recent years due to the overwhelming evidence supporting the positive impact of kinship care placements on children in foster care. A cultural shift toward prioritizing relational per manency with a child’s relatives and kin has been identified as one of the most promising practices. This shift involves obtaining leadership buy-in to advocate for and implement family finding practices and outcomes. In Westmoreland County, PA, successful collaboration with the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law Permanency Barriers Project led to policy changes that removed barriers to kinship care and emphasized the importance of kin. Over a decade, they experienced a remarkable 281 percent increase in kinship care utilization, while traditional foster care decreased by 30 percent. Similarly, Allegheny County’s emphasis on putting “families first” among caseworkers and judges resulted in an 82 percent decrease in congregate care usage and a 45 percent increase in kinship placements. To ensure unbiased and trauma informed decision making, trainings combating personal biases are crucial for all decision makers involved, including caseworkers, agency directors, and judges. Additionally, Successful Family Finding Practices

all levels of the organization, as well as external stakeholders. This necessitates purposeful change management practices to overcome resistance. Despite the efforts of Family Finding specialists to identify supportive relationships, alternative decision makers, such as primary caseworkers or judges, may interpret the situation differently, hindering the placement process. 2. Narrowly Defined Family Policies: Policies that narrowly define family and exclude fictive kin limit the potential pool of adults available for placement and support. Expanding the definition of kin allows caseworkers to identify and engage a broader network of supportive adults, including neigh bors, teachers, coaches, and other community members who can provide essential support for the child and caregivers. 3. Focusing on Relational and Cultural Permanency: Measuring success solely by kinship placement rates overlooks the importance of relational and cultural permanency for the child. The most successful agencies prioritize both placement and establishing a robust network of supportive adults, ensuring mean ingful connections for the child throughout their case. These connec tions can extend beyond a placement to include individuals willing to provide ongoing support and care. 4. Prescribing Relationship “Worthiness”: Bias in determining which relationships are “worthy” of pursuit can lead to missed oppor tunities. Common biases include avoiding the child’s family of origin to prevent repeating patterns of behavior and prioritizing maternal family members over paternal ones. Overlooking incarcerated family members, who may be critical sources of information, can also hinder the placement process. 5. Lack of Resourcing, Tools, and Skills: Many agencies lack the neces sary resources, tools, and skills to invest in effective Family Finding practices. Adequate staffing, funding for training, and access to technology services and tools are essential for successful kinship care placements.

See Kinship Care on page 39

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