Kin-first Systems Spotlight: Cultivating a Kin-first System with California’s Bench and Bar

Only 35.8% of California’s more than 40,000 children in foster care are placed with relatives or extended family members [1]. Yet research tells us that when children are unable to remain safely in the care of their parents or guardians, they do better when they remain living with and connected to their family [2]. 

"When children are removed from parents, they generally have better outcomes when placed with kinship caregivers than their peers who are placed in non-kinship placements." 

- 2022 American Bar Association     

Children in kinship foster care have shown more positive behavior development, mental health and placement stability [3]. California public policy and law follow this research and favors children and families staying connected whenever possible. This is evident in strong legal mandates for prioritizing family placements and family connections. Even so, many children and youth are not placed with family due to systemic hurdles, implicit and explicit biases, or other barriers.

Increasing the number of placements with kin to improve child outcomes requires all system partners to adopt a Kin-first culture.  While child welfare professionals carry significant responsibilities in fostering Kin-first cultures, support from stakeholders is critical. Key stakeholders in cultivating a Kin-first system are the courts and lawyers for the agency, parents, and children. The court and counsel have an important role in ensuring the child welfare system prioritizes the preservation and permanency of connections to family, community and Tribes. The support from bench and bar not only maximizes the impact of the work by child welfare professionals, it also redirects case management when needed, ensuring alignment with legal rights and legal mandates. For judges, they evaluate evidence, hear testimony and consider the recommendations of social workers, lawyers, and other professionals when making placement decisions. In addition, they monitor the implementation of court orders and progress on case work – and they review the actions of child welfare agencies to ensure compliance with legal standards and the welfare of the child.

Attorneys and judges ensure the family’s rights are protected and that all legal standards and procedures are followed. Attorneys can also help identify relatives and help those relatives to better understand the system and ease any mistrust or misconceptions. Child welfare staff must have a holistic understanding of the child and family needs, including but not limited to: safety needs, care needs, emotional, psychological and developmental needs. Accurate documentation and testimony of this information by child welfare professionals helps the bench and bar accomplish their duties in the courtroom which is why interdisciplinary collaboration between child welfare staff, lawyers, and the court is essential.

The Center for Excellence is proud to announce a new interactive toolkit: a one-stop resource for the court and counsel, written and designed by lawyers and judges. This Toolkit is designed to be helpful for all key stakeholders, to better understand the legal mandates and the role of judges and lawyers and to overcome barriers to placement with kin.

This resource begins with a comprehensive listing of all relevant statutes that may impact decisions relating to kinship care. Understanding the legal mandates, research and rationale underlying the need for a kin-first culture allows every professional in the courtroom to do their part to support a kin-first culture.

The toolkit also contains a training section, so new judges and lawyers have an overview of the key points in the process where kinship care decisions are most impactful to families. Finally, the toolkit contains links to additional resources and research that justify why a Kin-first culture is so important. This includes research on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and other materials that are taught to social workers and probation officers, which attorneys can use to develop their positions in a case.

The link to the web-based toolkit can be found here.

• Hon. Roger Chan, Presiding Judge of the San Francisco Juvenile Court
• Hon. Tilisha T Martin, Assistant Supervising Judge, San Diego Superior Court, Juvenile Division

Sources: 

[1] California Child Welfare Indicator Project (2024). Point in Time/In Care. https://ccwip.berkeley.edu/childwelfare/reports/PIT/MTSG/r/ab636/l 

[2] Sugrue, E. (2019). Evidence base for avoiding family separation in child welfare practice: An analysis of current research. Alia. Retrieved from www.aliainnovations.org

[3] Winokur, M., et al. (2015), Systematic Review of Kinship Care Effects on Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being Outcomes. Research on Social Work Practice 28(I), https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731515620843

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