Appendix

Federal and California law recognizes the importance of kin to children in foster care by requiring Family Finding and Engagement (FFE), including provisions to make it easier to place children with kin, and providing support for kinship caregivers and the children they care for.

Federal Law

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act⁸ provides Federal Financial Participation (FFP) for foster care costs, including foster care maintenance payments, kinship guardianship assistance, adoption assistance, program administration, and training. In order to receive FFP, states must give preferential consideration to an adult relative, as defined, over a non-relative/non-NREFM caregiver when determining a placement for a child, provided that the relative caregiver meets all relevant State child protection standards⁹, have procedures for checking criminal records and child abuse and neglect registries¹⁰, and exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to specified relatives¹¹. States must also establish and maintain standards for resource family homes and child care institutions that apply to placements for all children receiving Title IV-E benefits, but may waive non safety standards on a child specific case-by-case basis for relative foster placements¹².

California Law

California has integrated these requirements into State statutes and other written guidance as we have ongoing efforts to increase family placements and reduce congregate care through the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR)¹³, increase permanent connections for children and youth in foster care and include youth in decision making about their lives¹⁴.

Investigation and Notification

Investigation¹⁵

• Within 30 days of removing a child from home, the social worker must conduct an investigation to identify and locate all grandparents, parents of a sibling¹⁶ of the child, if the parent has legal custody of the sibling, adult siblings, other adult relatives of the child, including any other adult relatives suggested by the parents, and, if it is known or there is reason to know the child is an Indian child, any extended family members. If a child is detained, the court will order the child’s parents to disclose to the social worker the names, residences, and any known identifying information of any maternal or paternal relatives of the child¹⁷.

Notification¹⁸

• Within 30 days of removal the social worker must provide written notification to all adult relatives who are located, except when that relative’s history of family or domestic violence makes notification inappropriate, and whenever appropriate, oral notification, in person or by telephone.
• The notification must include specific information¹⁹, as currently available in CDSS Important Information for Relatives. The social worker must also give adult relatives a form to provide information to the social worker and the court regarding the needs of the child²⁰. This form is currently available as JV-285 Relative Information.

Due Diligence²¹

• The social worker must use due diligence in investigating the names and locations of the relatives, as well as any parent and alleged parent, including, but not limited to, asking the child in an age-appropriate manner about any parent, alleged parent, and relatives important to the child, consistent with the child’s best interest, and obtaining information regarding the location of the child’s parents, alleged parents, and adult relatives.
• Due diligence includes family finding. “Family finding” means conducting an investigation, including, but not limited to, through a computer-based search engine, to identify relatives and Kin and to connect a child or youth, who may be disconnected from their parents, with those relatives and Kin in an effort to provide family support and possible placement. If it is known or there is reason to know that the child is an Indian child, “family finding” also includes contacting the Indian child’s tribe to identify relatives and kin²².

Due Diligence Findings by the Juvenile Court²³

• The Juvenile Court will determine whether the social worker has exercised due diligence at several points during the case, including at the disposition hearing²⁴ and the permanency hearing²⁵. Status review hearings may also address Family Finding and Engagement in the context of efforts to finalize a permanent placement and to maintain relationships between a child who is 10 years of age or older with individuals who are important to the child and who has been in an out-of-home placement for six months or longer²⁶.

At detention the court may consider, among other things²⁷, whether the social worker has:

• Asked the child, in an age-appropriate manner and consistent with the child’s best interest, about their relatives.
• Obtained information regarding the location of the child’s relatives.
• Reviewed the child’s case file for any information regarding the child’s relatives.
• Telephoned, emailed, or visited all identified relatives.
• Asked located relatives for the names and locations of other relatives.
• Used internet search tools to locate relatives identified as supports.

At any permanency hearing in which the court terminates reunification services, or at any post permanency hearing for a child not placed for adoption, the court will determine whether diligent efforts were made to locate an appropriate relative and that each relative whose name has been submitted as a possible caretaker, either by the relative or by other persons, has been evaluated as an appropriate placement resource.

Preferential Consideration of Relative Placement

In California, all children in foster care and nonminor dependents have the right to be placed with a relative, extended family member of an Indian child, or nonrelative extended family member if an appropriate and willing individual is available²⁸. When a foster care placement is necessary the child must, if possible, be placed in the home of a relative, unless the placement would not be in the best interest of the child²⁹.

Preferential consideration³⁰ must be given to relatives in selecting a placement throughout the case, including at detention³¹, during disposition³² and when a change in placement is required³³. Caregiver immigration status³⁴, actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression³⁵, or physical disability³⁶ cannot be a bar to a placement. Limited income of the caregiver should not be a barrier to placement. The Resource Family Approval (RFA) requirement to demonstrate financial stability within the household can be waived on a case-by-case basis³⁷ and the child will be eligible for financial support through programs such as AFDC-FC, ARC and/or EC Funding³⁸, as described more fully below. An inability or unwillingness to facilitate implementation of all elements of the case plan or provide legal permanence for the child cannot be the sole reason to preclude placement with a relative³⁹.

When a child is detained, the social worker must assess any relative who requests emergency placement. When more than one relative requests preferential consideration⁴⁰, each relative must be considered under the placement factors, but consistent with the legislative intent for children to be placed immediately with a relative, the county social worker can place a child in the home of a relative or a nonrelative extended family member pending the consideration of other relatives who have requested preferential consideration⁴¹. 

Emergency Placement

Social Worker Placement

• The social worker may make an emergency placement with a relative pending the detention hearing, after detention and pending disposition or when the sudden unavailability of a foster caregiver requires a change in placement⁴². The social worker must first conduct an emergency assessment which consists of (1) a home inspection to assess the safety of the home and the ability of the relative or nonrelative extended family member to care for the child’s needs, (2) a state-level criminal records check through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) of everyone over 18 living in the home, excluding nonminor dependents and at the discretion of the county welfare department, other adults regularly present in the home⁴³, and individuals over 14 who are living in the home who the department believes may have a criminal record⁴⁴, and 3) a check of allegations of prior child abuse or neglect, which includes a check of the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)⁴⁵.
• If a relative, an extended family member of an Indian child, or a non-relative extended family member is available and requests emergency placement of the child pending the detention hearing, or after the detention hearing and pending the dispositional hearing, the county must initiate an assessment of the relative’s or non-relative extended family member’s suitability for emergency placement⁴⁶.
• Following the emergency placement of the child, the county must follow the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process, unless the child has been placed in a home that has been licensed or approved by an Indian child’s Tribe or a Tribe or Tribal organization designated by the Indian child’s Tribe. The RFA home environment assessment must be initiated no later than five business days after the placement.

Court Authorized Placement

• In addition to placement with a resource family home, TAH, emergency placement or assessed relative or NREFM, the court may authorize the placement of a child on temporary basis in the home of a relative, regardless of the status of any criminal record exemption or resource family approval, if the court finds that the placement does not pose a risk to the health and safety of the child⁴⁷. This includes cases in which the emergency assessment, RFA process or criminal background check has not been completed⁴⁸ and cases where RFA has been denied⁴⁹.

Criminal Background Checks

In reviewing the CLETS record, it is important to note that this is a name search and does not reflect the information of a single person but that of all persons with that name. A hit on CLETs does not mean the proposed caregiver must be denied placement. The county must develop a process to ensure they are able to receive information from the relative on any criminal history to ensure they are able to address with the relative their history to assess the ability of the relative to care for the child safely pending a full assessment including a livescan.

An exemption may be available, and infractions (violations that are not a misdemeanor or felony) do not require an exemption.

Simplified Exemption Process⁵⁰

• Counties can grant a criminal records exemption if an individual is of present good character and has no misdemeanor convictions within the last 3 years and no felony convictions within the last 5 years. The simplified exemption process is not available for convictions for state and federal non-exemptible crimes or misdemeanor convictions for statutory rape, indecent exposure, or financial abuse against an elder. The county has discretion to require the standard exemption process if it is necessary to protect the health and safety of a child.

Child Specific Approval⁵¹

• The law provides additional discretion to consider granting a criminal record exemption for a relative, NREFM or extended family member of an Indian child⁵² if the individual does not have a felony conviction within the last 5 years for 1) child abuse or neglect, 2) spousal abuse, 3) rape, sexual assault, 4) homicide, or any other crime against a child, including child pornography. An exemption may be granted if the individual submits substantial and convincing evidence that they are rehabilitated and of present good character. Non-Exemptible Convictions:⁵³
• Recent changes in exemption criteria may allow an individual who was denied an exemption under the old law to get the exemption reviewed under current law. If the individual has not been excluded⁵⁴, an applicant may reapply for an exemption if a recent denial, rescission, revocation, exemption denial, or exemption rescission was because of a conviction that was non-exemptible before January 1, 2022 and the reasons for the previous denial, rescission or revocation were due to circumstances or conditions which the applicant shows have either been corrected or are no longer in existence⁵⁵.

Emergency Caregiver Funding and Support

Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding⁵⁶

• Children placed with a relative, extended family member of an Indian child or nonrelative extended family member are eligible for Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding if the child is not eligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children – Foster Care (AFDC-FC)⁵⁷ or Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) funding and the emergency caregiver has filed an application for Resource Family Approval (RFA) or Tribal Approved Home (TAH). This includes when (1) the social worker has made a temporary emergency placement, (2) the child has been placed for emergency or compelling reasons (RFA) or (3) the juvenile court has authorized the placement prior to the completion of the criminal record exemption process or the resource family approval process. The child must be living in California.
• The beginning date of aid is the date of placement into the home, and funding in the amount of the basic family foster care maintenance rate is available for 120 days from the date of placement and up to 365 days with documented good cause for the delay.

Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) Funding⁵⁸

• ARC funding is available for children who are not eligible for either Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding or Aid to Families with Dependent Children – Foster Care (AFDC-FC) because they cannot meet Resource Family Approval (RFA). This includes children and non-minor dependents who are (1) placed with a relative who has been granted child specific approval as a resource family and has a criminal record exemption for a crime that is not federally exemptible or children placed with a relative by the juvenile court, and the relative has been denied Resource Family Approval. The funding is the applicable AFDC-FC rate, including any specialized care increment the county may provide, and, for children who are consumers of regional center services, the dual agency rate⁵⁹. The child must be living in California.
• The beginning date of aid is either the date of the RFA denial or the date the child specific aid is granted.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children – Foster Care (AFDC-FC)

• AFDC-FC is available to children placed with relatives only if the child meets Title IV-E criteria⁶⁰. California does not pay state-only (nonfederal) AFDC-FC for children placed with relatives. The ARC program was developed to fill this gap using Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (CalWORKs) funds.

County Funding and Support

If the sole issue preventing an emergency placement of a child with a relative, NREFM or extended family member (EFM) is a lack of resources, including, but not limited to, physical items such as cribs and car seats, the county shall use reasonable efforts to assist the relative, NREFM or extended family member in obtaining the necessary items within existing available resources.⁶¹

State Funds – Flexible Family Support

• In 2022, the California legislature appropriated $50 million in one-time funding, available for expenditure until June 30, 2025 and the California legislature appropriated an additional $50 million, available for expenditure until June 30, 2026 for County Welfare Departments (CWD), County Probation Departments (CPD) and participating Tribes that elect to access the funds to increase home-based family care and provide additional resources to children and youth in foster care, and their foster caregivers, including children in emergency placements.⁶² The agency shall use reasonable efforts to assist the relative or nonrelative extended family member in obtaining the necessary items within existing available resources.

Variations for Youth Supervised by Probation

When youth are detained, charged, or adjudicated a ward of the juvenile court and placed in foster care, probation must meet federal and state foster care requirements, including relative search, notification and placement preference.⁶³ Because the probation officer has a range of placement options that include non-foster care placement, it may not be immediately apparent that a youth who is detained is at risk of entering foster care. If the probation officer did not conduct the identification and notification of relatives, but the court orders foster care placement, the probation officer shall conduct the investigation to find and notify relatives within 30 days of the placement order. In addition, the probation officer is not required to provide detailed information about the various options to help with the care and placement of the child in giving oral notification.⁶⁴

Indian Child Welfare Act Considerations

Additional considerations arise under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and state law when a child is or may be a member of an Indian tribe.⁶⁵ Agencies are required to inquire whether a child is or may be a member of a Tribe and require notice to the Tribe when that is the case. Tribes may exercise jurisdiction and placement authority, define who is considered an extended family member, and approve placements, including Tribally Approved Homes.⁶⁶ A recent California Court of Appeal decision recognizes that the relative identification and the requirement to inquire whether a child is a member of a tribe are all part of the same investigation.⁶⁷

California Family Finding and Engagement (FFE) and kinship placement policies are designed to enhance the long-term well-being of children and youth in care. Research shows that children placed with their relatives and extended family members have greater placement stability, fewer emotional and behavioral problems and more connections to their biological families and social-cultural communities than children in care with strangers.⁶⁸ Effective Family Finding and Engagement goes beyond identifying a placement for the child. It also ensures that kin and other people in the community who can support the child, and family are an integral part of creating and implementing solutions for problems faced by the child and family. Up front FFE can help to identify and build a support network for the family that provides safety for the child, supports well-being and healing for the child and family, and avoids the trauma of removal. Ongoing FFE can help the child identify and maintain permanent connections that can provide support throughout the child’s life.

FFE is also an important component of California’s Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) initiative to reduce the use of congregate care and improve child welfare outcomes.⁶⁹ Intensive FFE can identify possible relative or extended family member placements for children who would otherwise be placed, or remain, in congregate care, thereby allowing them to remain in or step down to a home-based care setting, consistent with the goals of CCR.

Outcomes for Children and Families:

Examples of positive effects of FFE and kinship placement from research findings and the experience of some California Counties include:

• Expanded social support networks and lifelong connections for youth in out of home care.
• More frequent and consistent contact with birth parents and siblings.
• Fewer negative emotions about being placed in foster care than children placed with non-relatives.
• Reduced out of home placements and increased ability to keep families together while keeping children safe.
• Greater placement stability, less placement disruption and fewer placement moves.
• Greater likelihood that all siblings will be placed together.
• Permanency achieved more quickly.
• Greater likelihood of adoption or finalized guardianship if family reunification is not possible.
• Less time spent in out of home care.
• Lower rates of reentry.
• Less subsequent maltreatment.
• Fewer behavior problems and psychiatric disorders.
• Need for fewer mental health services.
• Fewer placements in inpatient treatment settings.
• Substantial cost savings derived from better outcomes.

Examples of Specific Findings

Across all contexts and stages, children served, when compared with those eligible but not served, were more likely to be placed with kin, to spend fewer days in foster care, and to experience better permanency outcomes. Those placed with kin, when compared with those not with kin, experienced greater placement stability and fewer placements in treatment settings. Substantial cost savings were demonstrated in both favorable and less-favorable implementation conditions.

• Atkinson, Anne J. (2023). A comparison of child welfare outcomes and cost savings achieved in diverse implementation contexts with 30 days to Family® intervention, Journal of Public Child Welfare 17, 305–332.

Findings from the pilot offices suggest that children placed with relatives through UFF [Upfront Family Finding] have a greater likelihood of being adopted or having a finalized guardianship if unable to be reunited with their parents.

• Welti, K.; Wilkins, A. and Malm, K, (2021) Evaluation of Upfront Family Finding | Phase 2: Final Report.

Children served were more likely to be placed with kin and spent fewer days in foster care, while those with kin experienced significantly greater placement stability and were less likely to be placed in inpatient treatment settings. Substantial cost savings were derived from better outcomes.

• Atkinson, A (2019) 30 Days to Family®: Confirming Theoretical and Actual Outcomes, Child Welfare 94, 97-129.

Outcome data from 102 quasi-experimental studies suggest that children in kinship care as compared to children in non-relative foster care, experience fewer behavioral problems and mental health disorders, better well-being, less placement disruption, fewer mental health services, and similar reunification rates.

• Winokur, M. A., Holtan, A., & Batchelder, K. E. (2018). Systematic Review of Kinship Care Effects on Safety, Permanency and Well-Being Outcomes. Research on Social Work Practice, 28(1), 19–32.

Children placed with kin experienced greater stability, reached permanency more quickly, and were less likely to experience subsequent maltreatment or re-enter care than children placed in non-relative foster care. Furthermore, children receiving intervention services experienced shorter, more stable placements than children placed with kin in comparison counties.

• Wheeler, C., & Vollet, J. (2017). Supporting kinship caregivers: Examining the impact of a Title IV-E waiver kinship supports intervention. Child Welfare, 95(4), 91-110.

Results suggest that focused efforts on searching for, and engaging family and kin can expand the social support network and lifelong connections for youth who have been placed out of the home.

• Shklarski, L., Madera, V. P., Bennett, K., & Marcial, K. (2015). Family Finding Project. Child Welfare, 94(6), 67-88.

Researcj also confirmed the generally held belief that there is more continuity in the lives of children in kinship care before and after they enter foster care than there is for those placed in non-relative foster care settings.

• General Accounting Office (1999). FOSTER CARE: Kinship Care Quality and Permanency Issues (Study of California and Illinois cases.).

Additional Resources: Research Summaries and Commentary

• Casey Family Programs, (2020). Research From the Field, Journal Article Summary, What is the impact of a Title IV-E waiver kinship supports intervention?
• Judge Leonard Edwards (ret.) (2020). The Urgency of Placing Children with Relatives The Guardian, Vol. 42 No. 4.
• CHAMPs Playbook, (2019). Research Highlights, page 5.
• Casey Family Programs (2018). How can we ensure a child’s first placement is with a family?, Pages 1-2.
• Judge Leonard Edwards (ret.), (2018). Relative Placement: The Best Answer for Our Foster Care System, Juv. & Fam. Ct. J. 69: 55.
• Judge Leonard Edwards (ret.) (2010). Relative Placement in Child Protection Cases: A Judicial Perspective, Juvenile and Family Court Journal 61, No. 2.
• Honomichl, R.D. & Brooks, S., (2009) Pursuing Permanence for Children and Youth in Foster Care: A Literature Review Northern California Training Academy, UC Davis Extension, Center for Human Services.
• Messing, J.T. (2006). From the child’s perspective: A qualitative analysis of kinship care placements. Children and Youth Services Review 28(12): 1415-1434.
• Tip sheet (https://familybuilders.org/programs-services/get-real/)
• SOGIE key principles (pdf).
• Questions to ask when inquiring about SOGIE (pdf).
• Permanency planning for caregivers (pdf).
• Permanency planning for youth (pdf).
• Dependency investigation tip sheet (pdf).
• Emergency response tip sheet (pdf).
• Family maintenance tip sheet (pdf).
• Hotline tip sheet (pdf).

Effective Family Finding and Record Keeping

Beginning at the initial contact with the child and the child's family and continuing throughout the child’s case, use effective family finding strategies to identify, locate, and engage identified relatives, extended family members of Indian children, nonrelative extended family members, and other individuals important to the child.

Effective Family Finding and Engagement, incorporating legally required due diligence, includes:

• Conducting an intensive search for relatives and kin.
• Conducting this investigation directly or through prompt engagement with staff identified by the department to conduct intensive family finding and engagement, or both.

Asking about relatives and kin during the initial contact with the parent(s) and the child and, consistent with good social practice, at subsequent contacts with the parent(s) and the child throughout the case.

Asking the child, in an age-appropriate manner and consistent with the child’s best interest, about individuals who are:

• Parents (mother’s side and father’s side)
• Brothers and sisters
• Relatives of your mother
• Relatives of your father
• People who are like family
• Who is important to you?
• Who can you turn to for help?
• Who would you like to live/stay with?
• Where do they live, how do you get in touch with them?

Asking the parent(s), for information, including name, location, and contact information, of:

• Other parent(s), including alleged parent(s)
• Relatives and nonrelative extended family members
  • Extended family members of an Indian child
• Other individuals who may be able to provide support for the child and the family
  • Who do you turn to for help or support?
• Individuals who may be able to provide care for the child if it is/becomes necessary
  • Who would you like your child to live with/ who would you turn to if your child needed to stay somewhere else for a while?

All individuals identified pursuant to the court detention order:

• At the detention hearing the court will order the parent(s) to disclose to the social worker the names, residences, and any known identifying information of any maternal or paternal relatives of the child.
• The social worker shall record any information provided and action taken to locate, notify, and engage identified individuals
• The social worker should ask at each contact whether the individual knows of other relatives, extended family members, non-relative extended family members or other individuals who are important to the child and may be able to provide support to the child and the family.
• The social worker should ask for any information about the location of and contact information for these individuals.
• The social worker should ask located relatives, non-relative family members, and other individuals for the names, locations, and contact information of other relatives or individuals who can provide support to the child and the family.
• If it is known or there is reason to believe the child is an Indian child, contacting the Tribe or Tribes of which the child is or may be a member to identify relatives and kin.
• The social worker should review the child’s case file for any information regarding the child’s relatives, extended family members, or nonrelative extended family member.
• Using a computer-based search engine and internet research tools to identify relatives and kin.
• Obtaining names, location, and contact information for identified relatives and other individuals through additional strategies such as internet searches and phone books.
• Contacting all identified relatives, extended family members of an Indian child, and non-relative extended family members, which shall include:
  • Written and oral notice to all identified relatives or extended family members unless notification is inappropriate due to the individuals’ history of family or domestic violence.
    • Notice includes:
    • That the child has been removed from the custody of his or her parent(s) or guardian(s).
    • Information about providing care for the child while the family receives reunification services with the goal of returning the child to the parent or guardian.
    • How to become a foster family home or approved relative or nonrelative extended family member.
    • Additional services and supports that are available in out-of-home placements; information regarding the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment program, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program for approved relatives, and Adoption Assistance Program. Charts containing details and comparisons of permanency options are available at the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) website.
    • Options for contact with the child, including, but not limited to, visitation.
    • Any options that may be lost by failing to respond.
    • Written notice includes the CDSS brochure CDSS Important Information for Relatives and Judicial Form JV-285 Relative Information.
    • Providing written notice by mail or in person to all identified relatives and extended family members.
    • Providing oral notice in person or telephone, as appropriate, to all identified relatives and extended family members.
    • Use oral notice as an opportunity to engage the individual, which shall include.
    • Discussing options for the individual to provide support to the child, including placement, as appropriate.

Asking whether the individual is aware of any other relatives, non-relative extended family members, extended family members of an Indian child or other individuals who are important to the child or the family.

• Contacting and engaging identified non-relative extended family members and other individuals who have been identified as important to the child or the family by telephone, in person, or email as appropriate

Social workers (or designated placement staff) should provide clear, timely, and detailed information to any relative, extended family member of an Indian child, or nonrelative extended family member (NREFM) who is, or may be interested in providing temporary placement for a child. This should include an explanation of available financial supports and how to access them, such as:

• Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding – Short Term financial assistance available to eligible caregivers immediately after placement, while they work toward Resource Family Approval (RFA).
• Approved Relative Caregivers (ARC) Funding – Monthly financial support for relatives who have obtained RFA and are caring for a child who qualifies under the ARC program.
• AFDC-FC Maintenance Payments – Federal or state foster care payments available to approved caregivers (including kin), based on the child’s eligibility and placement type.
• One-time financial assistance – Support for upfront costs related to meeting RFA or tribal home approval standards (e.g., home repairs, fire extinguishers, beds), which may be provided by the country or community-based organizations to help make placement possible.
  • Medi-Cal Health Coverage – All eligible children placed in care receive Medi-Cal, which includes access to:
    • EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment – Comprehensive preventive and mental health services.
    • SMHS (Specialty Mental Health Services) – For children with more complex behavioral or emotional needs.
• Contact information for Help – Provide names, phone numbers, or websites for county staff, kinship navigators, or financial benefits liaisons who can assist with applying for and accessing these supports.

Provide identified relatives, extended family members of an Indian child, nonrelative extended family members, and other individuals who are or may be interested, with information about ways to support the child in addition to providing placement, such as:

• Having phone contact
• Having the child visit or visiting the child
• Spending holidays with the child
• Writing letters
• Helping with homework or tutoring
• Supervising parenting time
• Providing transportation for visits
• Transporting the child to appointments, school, etc.
• Attending school programs, athletic events, etc.
• Providing childcare or respite.
• Providing information about family history, family photographs.
• Inquire about child’s SOGIE and who they feel safe living with and who supports who they are.
• What else they think might help?

Record Keeping

The child’s case record should be maintained in a manner that is accessible and easy to understand by anyone who is legally allowed to access it. The file should include all of the following:

• The names, locations and contact information of every individual identified in the family finding process, along with a description of each contact or attempted contact. When an individual declines placement consideration, document the reason for their decision (if known), and note any other type of support or involvement they are willing individual would like to provide.
• Information provided by the parent in response to the court order to identify any maternal or paternal relatives of the child.
• Efforts made to locate and contact relative’s who have been considered for placement.
• All emergency placement assessments, whether the child was placed with the relative, extended family member of an Indian child, or nonrelative extended family member.
• Documentation of the search for and consideration of relatives, extended family members, and nonrelative extended family members for placement and the reasons for the agency’s decision to place or not to place the child with each identified relative.
• Documentation that the f home of a relative, extended family member of an Indian child or nonrelative extended family member meets the approval standards, including documentation of a caregiver assessment, health, and safety inspection of the home and all required criminal records clearances.
• Summaries of all written and oral contacts with relatives, extended family members of an Indian child, nonrelative extended family members, and other individuals identified as important to the child or the family.
• All oral and written contacts with relatives are to be documented in the CWS/CMS in the Client or Collateral notebook.

Throughout the life of the case, the social worker shall continue to record and update this information in the case file

Family Finding and Engagement is an ongoing, continuous process. The social worker shall continually update information of family relationships to ensure that all children have the greatest chance to establish lifelong relationships with family and friends for care and support.
 

Initiate Emergency Caregiver Funding

Inform the caregiver about programs that help provide support for the child, including:

• Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding.
• Approved Relative Caregivers (ARC) Funding.
• AFDC-FC maintenance payments, including specialized care rates.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• One-time financial assistance available through the County and Community Based Organizations to meet home assessment and licensing requirements or otherwise make it possible for the individual meet RFA requirements.
• Medi-Cal, including EPSDT and Specialty Mental Health Services.
• Kinship support groups and community organizations.
• How to access additional information about these programs.

After providing the information, initiate or help the caregiver initiate application(s) for any other or ongoing financial assistance for which the child is eligible.

Ensure that the child has Medi-Cal coverage that can be accessed in the emergency placement. When making the initial emergency placement:

• Ask if the caregiver has any questions.
• Provide a way to contact the social worker or other staff member who can respond immediately or will return a call or message within 24 hours?
• Ask whether any additional assistance is needed or would be helpful and help to arrange assistance. For example, how is the child going to get to school tomorrow, what activities or appointments does the child have and who is going to make sure the child can get there.

Within 24 hours after making the emergency placement and at least once during the following week, contact the caregiver by telephone or in person and

• Ask how things are going.
• Ask whether the caregiver has received any promised or recommended services or assistance.
• Ask if the caregiver has any questions.
• Ask whether any additional assistance is needed or would be helpful and follow up with assistance or referrals., including assistance and resources around the child’s SOGIE.
• Provide or confirm a way to contact the social worker or other staff member who can respond immediately or will return a call or message within 24 hours?

After making an emergency placement, the social worker should initiate the Resource Family Approval (RFA) or Tribally Approved Home process unless the child is an Indian child placed in a home already licensed or approved by the child’s Tribe. The social worker should also calendar all related deadlines and key dates to ensure timely completion of approval steps and compliance with state or tribal requirements. After making an emergency placement, initiate the Resource Family Approval or Tribally Approved Home process, unless the child is an Indian child who has been placed in a home that has already been licensed or approved by the child’s Tribe. Calendar deadlines and important dates.

Resource Family Approval

• Within 5 days after the emergency placement, the relative or non-relative extended family member must apply for approval as a resource family and initiate the home environment assessment no later than five business days after the placement.
• Provide assistance, either directly or through another designated individual or agency, as needed to make sure the application is timely and successful.
• If the caregiver has already received a child specific Resource Family Approval for another child, such as a sibling, the social worker shall file an update within 5 days in accordance with RFA procedures. See, RFA Written Directives 9-02(b)(3).

Live Scan

Within 10 calendar days after the CLETS check or 5 business days of making the emergency placement, whichever is sooner, ensure:

• A fingerprint clearance check (LiveScan) is obtained for
  • The relative or non-relative extended family member caregiver
  • Any other adult whose criminal record was obtained through the initial CLETS
• Criminal record clearance is completed for the care caregiver and all other adults living in the home as required by of the relative or non-relative extended family member and all adults in the home as required by the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process
   

Overview

Recent changes in California law are designed to remove barriers to placement with relatives. One of these changes expands eligibility for the Simplified Exemption Process for clearing certain criminal history records. Effective use of this process allows counties to complete criminal record checks in eligible cases more quickly and accelerate the emergency assessment process Include citation link here. Under Health and Safety Code 1522, the full livescan background check process is not required for emergency placement. However, if CLETS check reveals criminal history that would normally disqualify a caregiver, counties may still move forward with placement by initiating the full background check and Simplified Exemption Process. This process can help clear eligible records and ultimately support placing the child with kin, even in cases where CLETS bits might otherwise prevent it.

Counties can use the Simplified Exemption Process when an individual is of present good character and has no misdemeanor convictions within the last 3 years and no felony convictions within the last 5 years. This does not include convictions for state and federal non-exemptible crimes or misdemeanor convictions for statutory rape, indecent exposure, or financial abuse against an elder.

When the Simplified Exemption Process criteria are met, there is a rebuttable presumption that the individual is entitled to an exemption. This means the county can assume the individual is eligible for the exemption unless there is information indicating an exemption should not be granted. The county has discretion to require the standard exemption process if it is necessary to protect the health and safety of a child.

Some jurisdictions have implemented “firewall policies” to support staff in promoting and sustaining kin placements. A “firewall” policy in this context refers to an internal agency practice or policy that protects and prioritizes kin placements efforts by creating structural accountability and shielding those efforts from unnecessary delay, bias, or competing pressures such as defaulting to non-kin placements due to time constraints or perceived convenience. These policies serve as safeguards to ensure that staff consistently and thoroughly pursue kinship options.

Key elements of a firewall policy may include:

Document Efforts

Staff involved in placing a child initially or at any subsequent placement should document every effort to: 1) engage kin resources and 2) achieve a kinship placement that is safe and, in the child’s, best interest.

• The written description should include the efforts that were made to identify, notify, and engage kinship resources.

Secondary Review

• If a kinship placement is not possible, staff making the placement decision must then make a non-kinship placement request to a secondary reviewer.
  • The secondary reviewer verifies efforts made, makes recommendations of further efforts, helps to remove barriers to kinship placements (e.g., explores exemption processes, assists in kinship finding and engagement, helps obtain supports for possible kinship caregivers), and otherwise supports staff in successful kinship placement.
  • The secondary reviewer should verify whether all reasonable and appropriate efforts have been made to achieve kinship placement. This should include:
    • Reviewing the case record,
    • Reviewing the document listing the attempts to locate and/or engage with kin,
    • Inquiring about what conversations were held with the parents, collateral contacts, and with the child (if age and developmentally appropriate) to gain information about additional kinship resources, and
    • Documenting the protocol for secondary-level review of non-kinship placement requests, including a staffing description of the reviewer and how efforts to achieve kinship placements are evaluated.
  • Prior to approving the non-kinship placement request, the secondary reviewer should identify and direct any additional actionable steps for identifying and locating kin and provide solutions and supports for removing any kinship placement barriers.
  • The written description should, at a minimum, include how the need for additional efforts will be evaluated and directed including examples of additional strategies that will be utilized to achieve kinship placements.

Senior Staff Authorization for Non-Kin Placements

• Require senior staff authorization for every placement that does not result in a kin placement. This includes initial placements, subsequent placements, and all congregate placements creating a process where this dialogue and oversight can occur at any time of day and on the weekend to ensure no delay for the child.
• Every placement that does not result in a kin placement, must be signed off by a senior staff member, including initial placements, subsequent placements, and all congregate care placements. Establish a process that allows this dialogue and oversight to happen promptly, including during weekends and outside regular hours, to avoid and delay for the child.
• Before signing off, the senior staff should inquire about the kin-finding activities already conducted and the plans for continuing kin-finding efforts. Intensive Staffing for All Non-Kin Placements.
• For cases involving children not currently in kin placements, the case carrying staff will have weekly meetings with leadership to explain and document the reasons the child remains in non-kin settings and ongoing efforts to find and engage relatives in the life of the child.
• For one example of a formal firewall policy, see New York’s Administrative Directive on Kin First Firewall Practice.
   

The goal of initial engagement with kin, including relatives, extended family members of an Indian child, and non-related extended family members (NREFMs), is not just to identify a placement for the child, but to also provide a foundation for developing a relationship with people who can provide support for the child and the family throughout the life of the case and upon exiting care.

Kin can provide support for the child and the family in a variety of ways, and kin who cannot provide a placement now may be able to do so in the future if the need arises. Kin are a vital resource in helping develop and preserve lifelong connections for children and youth involved in the child welfare system. These supportive individuals can help prevent removals and provide a sense of connection for the youth to their community, culture, and those who are important to them. They can also support contact between children and their families, build support networks for families during times of crisis, and provide stability through placement and permanency options.

The following is a checklist rather than a script. Each conversation will be different based on the status of the child welfare case and the individual’s history with the child and family, their interests, and their responses as the conversation evolves. Engagement should follow best practices such as those described in the Safety Organized Practice (SOP) Toolkit, Direct Practice Tools for Social Workers. Additionally, staff may want to follow snowball methodologies (always asking kin about other kin so that the kin network for the child continues to expand) and gentle escalations of commitment (over time, increasing the formal asks of kin to be involved in the child’s life as appropriate).

Dependency Process: The dependency process involves several stages, beginning with the child’s status and leading toward a long-term resolution. It is important to identify where the child is in the process and what steps will follow. This ensures that all involved parties understand the timeline and expectations moving forward.

Child Welfare Agency Role: The child welfare agency plays a central role in the dependency process. The agency will assess the child’s needs, provide case management, and may initiate or support legal proceedings. It may also offer or coordinate services to support the child and family, including safety planning, visitation arrangements, and reunification efforts when appropriate.

Kin Caregiver Options and Supports: Kin caregivers have access to a variety of supports and services. These may include financial benefits, respite care, counseling, parenting support programs, and referrals to local, community- based resources. Understanding these options can help caregivers make informed decisions and provide stable environments for the children in their care.

Court Involvement (if applicable): If the case is in court, specific legal procedures will apply. The court will review the child’s status, evaluate the efforts of the child welfare agency, and make decisions about custody, visitation, and permanency planning. All parties may be required to attend hearings, and legal representation is often provided or recommended.

• Describe the dependency process, where the child is in the process, and what could happen next.
  • What the child welfare agency is likely to do or may do, including possible actions and next steps.
  • What options and supports are available to the kin caregiver, such as benefits, services, and local referrals to community resources.
  • What will happen in court if the case is in court. What may happen in court if the case is in court explaining that the social worker will make recommendations to the court explaining that the social worker will make recommendations to the court, but these are final decisions. Others parties may present arguments, and the judge may issue different orders based on the information presented.
    • Provide information about the role of the social worker and the support the county/agency will provide.
    • Confirm that the individual has the CDSS Important Information for Relatives and the JV-285 Relative Information. Ask if they have any questions about these documents.
    • Elicit information about the individual’s relationship with the child and/or the family and how they have been involved with them.
• Give examples of the ways kin can be involved, not limited to providing a placement.
  • Activities with the child – things they can do together
  • Taking the child to school, extracurricular activities, cultural events, medical appointments, sporting events
  • Helping with homework
  • Attending school programs, music or dance recitals, athletic events the child is involved in
  • Checking in by phone, email, or in person
  • Participating in Child and Family Team meetings
  • Assisting with parent visits
  • Providing childcare or respite
  • Providing a placement
• Ask how the individual would like to be involved. Consider using the follow questions as appropriate:
  • How have you been involved with the child and/or the family?
  • What kinds of things have you done together?
  • How have you supported the child?
  • What would you like to continue doing?
  • What else would you like to do?
• Discuss what the social worker or agency can do to support that involvement and any community based services that are available.
• Ask If the individual expresses an interest in placement.
  • Provide additional information about the placement process and the financial assistance available for the care of the child.
  • Describe the approval process/licensing process and the resources available to meet approval/licensing criteria or to make placement possible.
• Discuss what will happen next.
• Ask who else can support the child? Who should the agency be in touch with? Who supports the child’s SOGIE?
• Ask how the individual would like to stay in touch.
  • With the child and/or the family.
  • With the child’s social worker.
• Be sure to ask throughout the conversation if the individual has any questions.
  • Before ending the conversation provide information about:
    • How to get in touch with the social worker or someone else at the agency who will respond promptly.
    • What to do in case of an emergency or a need for immediate information
• Record information about the individual, including:
  • How to contact them
  • How they are interested in being involved with the child
  • Names and contact information for other people the individual has suggested to contact.
  • If the individual cannot accept placement, any concerns or barriers that can be addressed now (for example, the prospective caregiver would need childcare) or may change in the future (for example current employment responsibilities preclude placement but may be temporary).
     

Effective Family Finding and Engagement (FFE) begins as soon as a child comes to the attention of the child welfare agency and includes everyone who interacts with the child or family. Early attention to FFE is important because kin, including relatives, extended family members of an Indian child, and non-relative extended family members (NREFMs), can help prevent removals and provide support if the child does need to enter foster care. Early involvement of community-based organizations that work with families, such as Cultural Brokers, or programs who support the family’s understanding of their LGBTQ+ child, have reduced removals and increased the number of children with kin caregiver support.

Note: Involving kin from the beginning of the process must be done in a way that respects the family’s decision making. If the Agency determines that a child cannot safely remain at home, its options are a Voluntary Placement Agreement (VPA) or filing a petition for formal care. In no circumstance can an Agency require or “place” a child – even with a relative. For informal care, the decision is completely up to the parent and, when appropriate, the child.

Hotline workers and investigators may have access to information about family connections that could be lost as the child’s case moves through the system. As the first agency contact with child abuse reporters, family, household members, and others, they can play an important role in starting to engage individuals who can support the child and/or the family.

Hotline staff take the initial child abuse report and gather enough information to determine an appropriate response. Investigators talk with the child, the family, household members, review records, and make collateral contacts to perform a risk assessment and determine whether services should be provided and whether the child should be removed. During this assessment, Investigators can utilize family finding to engage family members to help build natural supports for the family. If an intervention is necessary, family members can assist with safety planning efforts that enable to keep a child safely at home. In carrying out their responsibilities these workers can:

Recognize information that may be relevant to FFE. For example, the hotline worker may learn the person who made the abuse report is a family member, extended family member, or a NREFM.

• Training for hotline workers and investigators should include effective family finding concepts and the type of information that will be needed by other workers as the case progresses.
• When conducting conversations or reviewing records, such as hospital records, prior abuse allegations, etc. workers should take note of the names and contact information for individuals who may be relatives, extended family members or NREFMs of the child.
• Training on how to ask questions around the child’s SOGIE and recognize factors that impact LGBTQ+ children. 

Elicit information about the child’s kin and other people who are important to the child, including contact information.

Hotline and investigation checklists should include prompts to identify relatives, extended family members, and non-relative extended family members. Questions and discussion issues that are part of hotline and investigation conversations can include a prompt, such as:

• Where do the children feel safe? Is there a relative, extended family member or NREFM who the child and/or the parents trust?
• Is there somewhere the child stays overnight when they are not at home? Prompt – relative, extended family member, NREFM?
• Who babysits for children in the family? Prompt – relative, extended family member, NREFM?
• Who does the child turn to for support? Prompt – relative, extended family member, NREFM?
• Who does the parent turn to for support? Prompt – relative, extended family member, NREFM?
• Be sure to ask about:
  •    Siblings, including those living in a different household and those who are adults.
  •    Paternal relatives and relatives of noncustodial parents.

Engage individuals using good social work practice skills such as appreciative inquiry, active listening, answering questions, and being respectful:

• Structured decision making policies and practices should include investigation of the child’s kin and other people who may be important to the child.
• Record information including names, contact information and relationship to the child, whether and how the individual has been involved with child and/or the family and how they might provide support:
  • It is vital that there is an easy way to record the information that is elicited and gathered above in a format that saves staff’s time and makes it easy – if not unavoidable – for all staff who currently and subsequently work with the child and family to have persistent and obvious access to the information.
  • Hotline and child risk assessment forms should include sections to record individuals who are relatives, extended family members, or non-relative extended family members of child along with contact information.
     

The following is a list of recommended practices for identifying kin, establishing relationships, and promoting involvement of youth and kin. These practices are inspired by information compiled from dozens of child welfare agencies across the United States, as well as the Child Welfare Playbook & Resource Family Working Group.

FFE never stops during the entire time a child and family has contact with the child welfare system – beginning at first hotline contact and going through the time the child achieves permanency or exits the foster care system. Some jurisdictions or agencies have goals to locate a specific number of kin (frequently the number is 60-80 kin) over the life of the case, but the actual number depends on the individual situation. The important principles of FFE are:

• There are always kin that can and should be engaged and
• Kin should be engaged to support the child and family in multiple roles that may never include as a placement.

Once family members are found, caseworkers can engage relatives and other adults to establish and maintain relationships, where appropriate, and explore ways to build lifelong connections with family and/or find a permanent home with family.

Ask Youth About Their Connections

• Ask young people, in an age-appropriate manner, regardless of their age, about their connections with adults in their lives.
• Helpful prompts include:
  • Who came to your last family gathering?
  • Who would you call if you needed a ride home from school?
  • Who do you visit for the holidays? Who comes to your birthday party?
  • Who do you feel connected to?
  • Who from the past or present do you want to stay connected to? How? Why?
  • How are you feeling about this process?
  • What memories is it stirring up?
  • Who are the three people in your life that you have the best relationship with?
  • Would it help to review where you have lived in the past to help you recall important adults in your life?
  • Who cared for you when your parents could not in the past?
  • Who pays attention to you and cares about what happens to you?
  • What cousins do you get along best with?
  • Who do you hang out with in the neighborhood?
  • Do you go to your friend’s house? Do you like their parents?
  • Who believes in you? Stands by you?
  • Who can you count on?
  • Who would you call if you were in trouble?
  • Who would you call if you wanted to share good news? Bad news?
  • Who loves and accepts you for who you are?
  • Who do you feel safe with and yourself with?
  • Who supports your SOGIE?
• Utilize kin-finding tools to help youth identify kin:
  • Utilize tools such as a connectedness map, genogram, mobility mapping, heart map, or a tree of life to identify a youth’s important relationships and to stimulate discussion of meaningful relationships and connections.
  • Where necessary, use internet searching and technological platforms.
• Record these responses and regularly ask for updated answers (e.g., during monthly check-ins).

Maintain, Update and Share Lists of Connections/Kin

• Document the youth’s responses to the above questions in a file that can be shared with relevant agency members, but also with CASAs, attorneys, Tribes, parents and foster parents.
• Create a shared electronic list of kin, their relationship to the child, their contact information, their contact method preferences, and brief but relevant context notes.
• Update the list with the last contact date and the team member who last made the contact.
• Use a Search Checklist. For an example, see Michigan’s Diligent Search Checklist.
• Identify a custodian or point person in the agency for the maintenance of this document, recording the person’s name and contact at the top of the document.

Involve Kin Early

• Explicitly encourage parents and youth to bring their supportive kin to meetings. Update templates for meeting invites and notification letters to include this encouragement.
• Ask youth and parents about their support network at the earliest possible interactions, including during investigations and in meetings.
• If removal is not imminent, do not frame this as asking about potential placement options. Instead, explain that this is about helping to identify and activate the family’s network, in the hopes of helping the family get support.
• Keep asking about kin at every interaction.
• Make it possible for kin to complete approval steps, like a background check, ahead of time, so they are already approved if removal becomes necessary.
• Communicate effectively with relatives:
  • Introduction: Introduce yourself, your agency, and your role.
  • Clarify purpose: Follow-up on the letter sent, explain that you are currently working with a child that may be a relative and express the goal to find some information about the child’s family.
  • Explain the youth’s status: Express the importance of identifying connections for the child early on in the process.
  • Reflect on information given: Ask for their questions and concerns. Give time for the relative to process the information, if necessary.
  • Ask for further information: Further information, other relative contact information, family photos and letters, and anything else pertinent to child of their family should be discussed.
    • Add a question like, “Are there other kin connections for the child that we should know about?” to any kinship-finding form letters or standard messages.
    • Ask supportive adults who attend planning meetings if there are others who should be in attendance or otherwise be involved.
    • For example, kin-finders report that kin who are incarcerated, and therefore often overlooked in kin-finding activities, can offer a wealth of connections, and can explain complex family dynamics.
  • Discuss next steps: Depending on relative response, describe what the process looks like and when to expect to hear from you again.
  • Provide agency contact information: phone number, e-mail address.

Plan to Keep Youth Connected to Their Supportive Adults

• Create opportunities for regular phone calls, visits, or other contact with relatives (e.g., during monthly check ins).
• Ensure that LGBTQ+ youth have contact with adults who support their SOGIE.
• Make a formal plan to stay in touch with each connection. Plans could include weekly FaceTime or phone calls, letters, or emails, in-person visits, transportation, mentorship, vacations, and/or school events. You can even make a plan to stay in touch with a pet, such as visits to a dog park.
• Document these occurrences where possible so agency workers can see with whom and how often the young person communicates.
• Make sure that kin are aware of other ways to support youth. If someone cannot serve as a placement option, they can still stay connected to a youth through visits or by attending a planning meeting. Include as many kin as possible in your formal plans to stay connected.
• Ask the kin about the language in your current messages, the format, and the medium. For example, kin may tell you that they infrequently look at physical mail or that they don’t answer calls from unknown phone numbers.

Require Ongoing Communication between Agency Workers and Supervisors

• Check-ins should occur at regular intervals.
• Agency staff should address the following questions to ensure diligent efforts are being made in locating and engaging non-custodial parents and relatives:
  • What progress has been made in identifying a permanent placement resource since last supervision?
  • How is the identified permanent resource involved in case planning? How is the support network involved?
  • What kind of support have family members been providing to the youth?
  • What tools have been used to identify relatives and what was the impact?
  • Have family members identified any barriers to maintaining a positive relationship?
  • What barriers exist with regards to permanency?
  • What efforts have been taken in locating and engaging relatives?
  • Has there been any follow-up in locating and engaging non-custodial parents?
  • Have these efforts been properly documented?

Provide Kin-Specific Resources

• Enlist Dedicated staff for Kin-Related Responsibilities:
  • Consider creating kin-specific units or specialized staff to assist in finding kin placements, kinship licensing, and kinship permanency. These staff are trained on kin-specific processes and practices so they can promote a kin-first culture and be a resource for kin caregivers.
• Provide Kin-Specific Materials:
  • For various reasons kin caregivers experience the foster care system differently than traditional resource parents. Acknowledging these differences, several jurisdictions provide kinship caregivers with kinship specific training, which address things like family dynamics and can be tailored specifically to each family’s needs. Often these kin-specific trainings are more accessible and shorter.
• Educate Staff to Be Mindful of Racial and/or Cultural Context:
  • Utilize these published toolkits for African American, Latin@, American Indian & Alaskan Native cultures. These documents contain recommendations to promote culturally responsive kinship care services. Provide support to families who struggle with their child’s SOGIE.
• Increase use of kinship guardianship assistance:
  • Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP), also known as subsidized guardianship, is a permanency option created in federal law to provide permanency with kin without requiring termination of parental rights and adoption. Most jurisdictions offer this type of guardianship as an option for kin caregivers if reunification and adoption are not in the best interests of the child. Federal law sets out the minimum eligibility requirements for GAP; however, jurisdictions are allowed to create additional eligibility criteria beyond the federal requirements. To increase use of GAP, jurisdictions should remove any extra eligibility criteria beyond federal requirements.
• Utilize a kinship navigator program:
  • Many jurisdictions have kinship navigator programs, which help caregivers navigate the many systems that impact them, help connect them to services, and support their access to public benefits. Ideally, these programs should serve all kin caregivers, regardless of child welfare system involvement. Jurisdictions may choose to serve only kin caregivers outside the child welfare system, only kin caregivers within that system, or both.

Additional Resources

• For testimonials from caregivers and parents about how to build trust, see Child Welfare Information Gateway’s Partnering With Birth Parents to Promote Reunification at Partnering With Birth Parents To Promote Reunification | Child Welfare Information Gateway
• The Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative Center for States features videos with real-life stories of families discussing the dynamics and various aspects of kinship care. It’s All Relative: Supporting Kinship Care Discussion Guides and Video Series.
• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren explores key issues about the practical and emotional challenges of assuming kinship care: Help Guide.
• The Kinship Care section of the Information Gateway website provides a list of resources to support kinship care
• The Reunifying Families section of the Information Gateway website provides a list of resources to support family reunification.
• Tip Sheet Questions to ask when inquiring about SOGIE regarding Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression.
• The LGBTQ+ Community Resources is offered by The Trevor Project that has several resources for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community, including self-care guides, educational articles for parents and supportive adults, and other informational pieces regarding creating safe spaces in schools and developing healthy relationships.

Kin-Finding Practices Policies Checklist

If fully implemented, describe your practice. If not fully implemented, what would you need to implement this practice?

Ask Youth About Their Kin:

• Fully Practice: It is standard practice for team members to regularly discuss kin connections with every youth who is able to communicate. These conversations are integrated into routine check-ins and are guided by best practice questioning strategies. Team members are trained to ask open-ended, relational questions such as, “who are some adults you trust or spend time with outside of school?” to help youth identify potential kin.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with youth sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Require Senior Staff Sign-Off for Non-Kin Placements:

• Fully Practice: Every non-kin placement requires a supervisor’s approval. Supervisors review all kin- finding activities to-date and propose additional ways of finding kin or supporting known kin before approving a non – kin placement.
• Partially Practice: A non-kin placement can be made without supervisory approval outside of business hours; or, a supervisor’s approval is required, but this is often given automatically and without a collaborative discussion of additional ways to find or enable a kin placement.
• Do Not Practice

Maintain a Shared List of Kin:

• Fully Practice: There is a list of known kin with their contact information and basic notes, stored in a place that all team members can see and update. Team members include agency staff, private agency staff, CASAs, parents, and attorneys.
• Partially Practice: There is a list of known kin with their contact information and basic notes, but the case worker must manually share it with other team members.
• Do Not Practice

Dedicate Kin-Finding Responsibility:

• Fully Practice: For every child we work with, someone is the dedicated point person for finding, contacting, and staying in touch with their kin. This person may by the child’s case worker, or another team member. While many team members can assist, this team member knows it is their responsibility. The team member with dedicated responsibility communicates with the child and parent(s) directly.
• Partially Practice: We have multiple team members dedicated to kin-finding, or a dedicated kin-finding team member who does not interact with the child or parent(s).
• Do Not Practice

Use Social Media to Find Kin:

• Fully Practice: We always use social media when there is a need to search for kin or kin contact information. We have a written social media guide that helps our team members use it safely and securely, such as dedicated agency accounts so they do not use their personal accounts. We have IT, document retention, discoverability, and other procedures in place.
• Partially Practice: Our team members may use social media on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Use a Variety of Contact Methods:

• Fully Practice: We formally support the use of texting, social media, in-person visits, and phone calls for finding kin. We have IT, document retention, discoverability, and other procedures in place for these communication methods.
• Partially Practice: Our team members have flexibility to choose multiple contact methods.
• Do Not Practice

Involve Kin Prior to Removal:

• Fully Practice: When we engage with a family prior to a removal, we encourage parents and older youth to bring supports with them. This encouragement is written in all communications. Meeting invitations include a dedicated place for naming kin.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with families sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Plan to Keep Youth Connected to Their Supportive Adults:

• Fully Practice: Every child has a documented plan for staying connected to their supportive, affirming adults, including cadence of connection, form(s) of connection, and the person responsible for each associated task.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with youth sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Use Genograms:

• Fully Practice: Every child has a genogram filled out. Genograms are regularly updated and saved in a place accessible to the child’s team.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with youth sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Use a Heart Map to Identify a Youth's Important Relationships:

• Fully Practice: Every child who can communicate has a heart map filled out and saved in their file.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with youth sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Leverage the Court System to Encourage Kin-Finding:

• Fully Practice: Reports to the court include a narrative section of all kin-finding activities to date for children who are not placed with kin.
• Partially Practice: Sometimes team members include information about kin-finding in court reports, but it’s not a required section or narrative.
• Do Not Practice

Use the Snowball Method:

• Fully Practice: It is our standard practice to ask all kin we find about additional kin, and to follow-up with those additional kin. Our written communication to kin includes an ask to connect us with more kin.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with kin sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Use Gentle Commitment Escalation with Kin:

• Fully Practice: Our team has a list of suggested ways to engage kin, recognizing that not all kin can serve as a placement, or at least right away. We remain engaged with all kin and find ways to open lines of communication using small, incremental steps, such as asking for a family photo or setting up a brief phone call with the child.
• Partially Practice: Our team members use this method with kin sometimes on their own.
• Do Not Practice

Never Stop Looking for Kin:

• Fully Practice: We have regular reviews of all nonkin placements try to surface additional kin, or to reconsider prior kin as new potential placements.
• Partially Practice: Staff are encouraged to continue looking for kin placements.
• Do Not Practice

Test Your Communications with Real Kin:

• Fully Practice: We seek out a diverse array of kin to review our forms, notices and other communications. We improve our communications based on their feedback. They are available in languages other than English that are commonly spoken in our community.
• Partially Practice: We have had kin input into our communications in the past.
• Do Not Practice

Make Keeping in Touch with Kin a Formal Foster Family Responsibility:

• Fully Practice: Our foster families are required to support kin connections for the youth in their case, including facilitating visits, phone calls and other communications. This is clearly explained in training and confirmed during regular check-ins. The Department can assist with transportation.
• Partially Practice: We encourage our foster families to keep in touch with kin, but do not require it.
• Do Not Practice

Use a Red Team to Prevent Adverse Placements:

• Fully Practice: We hold a formal all-hands-on – deck meeting when ever a child is at risk of an adverse placement, such as being moved out of their school district, being separated from siblings, or being placed in an institutional setting (Short Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTP’s), congregate care, or another specialized placement). These meetings are collaborative problem-solving sessions aimed at identifying alternatives to avoid the adverse outcome. Approval for such a placement requires meeting strict criteria for example, presenting a genogram that includes at least 120 identified connections.
• Partially Practice: We often collaborate on ways to avoid an adverse placement, but do not have a formal “red team” process.
• Do Not Practice

Make Sure Kin Have a Robust Presence at Meetings:

• Fully Practice: We encourage parents (and older youth) to bring support to all meetings, even in early Departmental involvement. Meeting invitations explicitly include a section to invite supportive kin. Known kin are invited to future meetings (with consent of parties when relevant).
• Partially Practice: We welcome kin at meetings but do not have any formal practice to proactively include them.
• Do Not Practice

Create Life Books for Youth in Care:

• Fully Practice: We provide life book templates to families. Case workers review the life books at scheduled visits, ensure they are transported to visits with parents and other family members, and ensure they follow the child in a placement move.
• Partially Practice: We encourage families to create life books in training but do not formally follow up.
• Do Not Practice

Use DNA to Find More Family Connections:

• Fully Practice: We have the ability to find kin through DNA testing. We have policy and procedure in place for approving when to use this method, which is one of last resort; how to gain youth’s informed consent; and have supports in place for the youth to establish connections and process any new information (such as new or unexpected connections).
• Partially Practice: We have the ability to find kin through DNA testing, but do not have required approvals or ongoing supports for youth to process results.
• Do Not Practice

In preparing this toolkit, we interviewed child welfare agency staff on both the county and state level in California, child welfare agency staff in other states, national experts and policy makers, and others. A notable concept that came out of the research, was how little technology is utilized to help support family finding and engagement. While agencies frequently used individual online search tools to help find family, staff generally reported being unsupported by technology in documenting, communicating, or integrating those results. Many staff used the technological equivalent of notepads – word documents, spreadsheets, etc. – to document their searches if not actual pen and paper. For those who did use some sort of technology platform, it generally was a standalone solution that meant repeatedly entering data to communicate or record the data. Most technology was not integrated at all with Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS). Below, are some technology solutions that are currently used frequently in various agencies across the country as well as two specific platforms based in California that offer more comprehensive solutions and attempt to integrate family finding, communicating, and storing that data to save staff time throughout the process⁷⁰.

Child Welfare agencies can benefit from technology tools that streamline family finding processes. Software programs can facilitate comprehensive searches across multiple databases and social media platforms, automating the identification of relatives and kin. Workflows can be simplified through automated outreach, documentation, and reminders, ensuring data quality and timely engagement. Advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities offer valuable insights into family dynamics and history, identifying potential supports and interventions. Additionally, integration with other systems through Application Programming Interface (API) enables seamless data exchange and minimizes manual data entry – especially with integration with a state’s CCWIS system.

Two Technology Platforms Based in California that can Assist with Family Finding and Engagement:

Binti is a technology platform that focuses on modernizing and streamlining the foster care and adoption process. The platform provides technology solutions to help child welfare agencies manage and expedite the placement of children. Binti’s services include digital tools for application processing, background checks, and communication, aiming to make the adoption and foster care journey more efficient and user-friendly for both agencies and prospective resource parents. More than 400 agencies in 34 states currently use Binti software.

Binti’s Family Finding & Engagement module is designed specifically to support child welfare agencies in family finding and engagement. Through Integrated Search, Binti streamlines the process for social workers by searching multiple online databases and social media, presenting a condensed list of potential kin, thereby saving time, and enhancing focus on promising leads and eliminating the need to search each online database individually.

Binti also attempts to eliminate manual data entry by automatically importing results into the Agency’s CCWIS or other central data system. This automation not only improves accuracy but also allows social workers to allocate more time to critical tasks and prevents duplicative data entry.

Binti expedites the family finding process by automating key steps, including people search, outreach to potential kin, family tree creation, and report generation. Binti allows staff to record details about both kin and fictive kin with notes about each relationship. Binti’s bulk outreach feature allows caseworkers to notify dozens of relatives and connections at one time, and workers can set periodic reminders to follow up with specific connections. By automating these tasks, according to Binti, social workers experience an average time savings of 10.5 hours per family finding search.

Binti also makes it easier to record and track information. It is cloud based and mobile-friendly, making it easier for staff to collaborate and immediately have updates based on family finding efforts. The Family Finding Searches Dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of caseload, metrics, and progress, helping workers and supervisors to make well – informed decisions and track data on a team, office, or county level.

Connect Our Kids is a nonprofit organization that provides a platform for child welfare agencies to connect children in foster care with potential relatives and other supportive adults. The platform was piloted in 2020 in six jurisdictions around the country and has since been adopted by several agencies, organizations, and CASAs.

The platform uses advanced technology and data analysis to identify potential matches between children and their extended family members or other supportive adults. This helps child welfare workers find suitable families quickly and efficiently for children who need a stable living environment. In fact, during the pilot phase, Connect Our Kids says it helped find 20% more families in half the time it took using traditional methods.

The platform includes two main features: Family Connections and Family Search. Family Connections allows child welfare workers to search for maternal, paternal, and natural supports. It also includes template emails and mechanisms to send emails out to kin. Meanwhile, Family Search leverages piple.com, which scrapes information from internet databases, as well as other people search tools that are free. Currently, the platform is standalone and does not integrate with CCWIS systems.

Other Technology Tools for Family Finding

Online search sites can also be useful tools for child welfare agencies in their family finding efforts. While these sites do not offer staff the same level of support in doing kinship finding and engagement (e.g., recording and tracking information, bulk outreach to possible kin connections, recording notes about possible roles for individual family members, etc.) in the same way as the technology platforms above, they can help caseworkers locate relatives and kin who may have moved away or lost touch over time. Some popular online search sites include:

People search websites: Websites like White pages, Pipl, Accurint, and Spokeo can help caseworkers find contact information for relatives and kin.

Social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms can be used to connect with family members and friends who may have information about the child’s extended family. Agency staff we talked to stressed that staff need protocols in how to use social media to ensure that individually identifying information – including their own – is not inappropriately or unnecessarily shared online. See Washington D.C.’s social media policy.

Genealogy websites: Websites like Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com provide access to historical records and family trees that can help caseworkers trace a child’s ancestry and identify potential relatives.

Public records databases: Databases like Been Verified and Truth Finder provide access to public records such as property records, criminal records, and marriage certificates, which can help caseworkers gather information about a child’s family history.

Online directories: Directories like 411 and Yellow book can provide phone numbers and addresses for people and businesses across the United States, helping caseworkers contact potential relatives and sources of support.

Shared templates and documents: Within CCWIS or, if permitted by your local IT policies, outside of it to track kinship supports and all communications with relatives and extended family members. This practice is especially important to ensure that new staff or other team members can easily access the information and follow up as needed. For an example, see Florida’s Family Finding Connections log.
 

• ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United, in partnership with Casey Family Programs (2023). Kinship Assessment Tool.
• ABA Center on Children and the Law and Generations United (2022). Kinship Promising Practices.
• Annie E. Casey Foundation (2023). Kinship Process Mapping; A Guide To Improving Practice In Kinship Care.
• California Department of Social Services (2011). All County Information Notice (Acin) I-35-11 Finding Relatives For Children In Out-Of-Home Placement.
• California Department of Social Services (2018). All county letter (ACL) 18-42 family finding and engagement (ffe).
• Casey Family Programs (2018). How can we ensure a child’s first placement is with a family?.
• Jurisdictional Scan.
• CHAMPs (Children Need Amazing Parents) Policy Playbook (2023). Prioritize Placements with Family Members and Other Family Connections.
• Child Welfare Playbook (2023) Finding Kin.
• Children’s Bureau, ACYF-CB-IM-19-03 (2019). Engaging, empowering and utilizing family and youth voice in all aspects of child welfare to drive case planning and system improvement.
• Grand families (Continuous Update). Notification & Engagement of relatives.
• Grand families (2017). WikiHow for Creating a Kin-first Culture.
• University of California Davis and California Department of Social Services, Center for Excellence, Family Finding and Engagement (2023). Family Finding and Engagement Promising Practice, Systems Change.
• University of California Davis and California Department of Social Services, Center for Excellence, Family Finding and Engagement (2023). Family Finding, Data and Practice, Review of the Literature.
• United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, Child Welfare Information Gateway (2023). Placement of children with relatives.