See below for descriptions and downloadable articles
- Disrupt Disparities: Kinship Care in Crisis
- Overcoming Obstacles to Higher Education
- A Family Right to Care: Charting the Legal Obstacles
- Needs of Kinship Families and Pediatric Practice
- Kincare Families and the NYC Housing Authority
- Diversion and Kinship Care
- Stepping Up For Kids
- Supporting Those Raising Our Children
- AARP Summit Reports
This 2021 report from AARP, written by Ryan Johnson, covers Kinship Care in NYS, outlining facts and figures from foster care and informal care and highlights the disproportionality of Black, Hispanic, and Native American representation in the Child Welfare system.
In this 2014 report, Mobilization for Youth (now Mobilization for Justice) examines the specific issue of how different types of kinship arrangements impact a child’s ability to access the higher education needed to begin breaking the cycle of poverty.
In this 2016 legal brief by Gerard Wallace, the “rights” of kinship families are outlined. These rights divide into two core areas where kinship laws remain incomplete: 1) the opportunity to care for children, and 2) enabling caregivers to successfully care for children.
This 2017 article from the American Academy of Pediatrics, written by David Rubin and his colleagues, makes the argument for why kinship care is the preferred placement choice for children’s well-being. The article discusses the unique needs of kinship families and suggests policy solutions.
This 2016 report from Mobilization for Justice (MFJ) explores how changing NYCHA’s definition of family will help protect children in kinship care and prevent children from entering the foster care system.
This article, written by Gerard Wallace and Dr. Eunju Lee, suggests that kin are engaged as a resource by local departments of social services and diverted into informal kinship care, outside of foster care, and that these families often are not connected to services. The authors offer a procedure for insuring that kin who are diverted are connected to kinship navigators and direct services.
This 2012 Annie E Casey policy report is a staple of kinship policy, looking closely at the benefits of kinship care for children, the needs of kinship families, estimated numbers of kinship families in each state. It offers policy solutions for what government and communities should do to support kinship families.
This 2005 Annie E Casey report provides solid context for much of the last decade of kinship policy work being done. It demonstrates how the issues kinship caregivers face today are many of the same ones that were faced by families almost 20 years ago. Some of these policy recommendations have produced results, while others have yet to see action.
AARP NYS Kinship Summit Reports
About the summits:
There have been 5 kinship care summits in NY dating back to 2004. The summits were designed to improve services for children being raised by grandparents and other relatives (kinship care) currently residing in each of New York’s 62 counties. These events were created through the leadership and support of the NYS Kinship Navigator program with assistance from AARP NY, the NYS KinCare Coalition, the NYS Council on Children and Families, the NY Life Foundation and the AARP Foundation. Each summit sought to craft a plan for improving state and local coordination so that the multiple needs of children and their caregivers could be more effectively addressed while reducing costs within the state.
Summit participants consisted of policy makers, agency leadership, legal staff, service providers, caregivers and youth. Speakers with expertise in serving children raised by grandparents and other relatives provided a strong foundation for a series of planning exercises held during these events. Breakout sessions enabled attendees to discuss pre-Summit policy and program suggestions, add new recommendations, and identify priorities for NYS kinship family services.
NYS Kincare Coalition 