Policy Memos

See below for memo descriptions and downloadable links

• Hidden Foster Care: Proposing Solutions to Fix a Broken System
• Creating a Kinship System of Care
• Private Kinship Care: An Underutilized Child Welfare Resource
• Memo in Support of Legal Assistance for Kinship Caregivers
• Letter of Support for Legal Assistance for Kinship Caregivers
• Memo in Support of the Word “Kinship”
• The Opioid Crisis and it’s Impact on Kinship Care in NY
• Needs of Kinship Families in NY
• Diversion from Foster Care and Informal Kinship Families

This 2022 memo, written by Ryan Johnson, outlines the culmination of activities from a group of stakeholders who came together in 2020 to propose a solution to fix “safety plan” placements. It outlines the issues with the practice and proposes a legislative solution, which was introduced in 2021 as A8090 and reintroduced in 2022 as A8090/S8148.

This 2022 memo, written by Ryan Johnson, outlines the funding instability of kinship care programs in New York and makes the argument for solidifying kinship services by consolidating local programs under a statewide entity, similar to how the Nutritional Outreach Education Program (NOEP) functions.

Submission of the National Committee on Grandparents for Children’s Rights and the Empire Justice Center for the June 16, 2011 Ways and Means Hearing record on improving programs designed to protect at-risk youth.

This 2015 memo, written by Gerard Wallace for the NYS Office of Indigent Legal Services Essex County Hearing on Eligibility, outlines the obstacles kinship caregivers face in obtaining legal assistance in family court, and suggests policy recommendations in support of assigned counsel.

Letter of Support for Legal Assistance for Kinship Caregivers

This 2022 letter outlines the obstacles kinship caregivers face in obtaining legal assistance in family court, and suggests policy recommendations in support of assigned counsel.

This memorandum was authored by the New York State Kinship Navigator in order to support the use of the word “kinship” as the term of art in policy and law and to avoid the use of the word “grandfamilies.”

This 2017 memo written by Jerry Wallace and Ryan Johnson explores the impact of the Opioid Crisis on kinship care in NY, referencing multiple journal and newspaper articles highlighting the increase in kinship care directly correlated to the rise of opioid usage.

This 2016 research brief from the Center for Human Services Research outlines the results of a study conducted of NYS kinship caregivers as part of the 2012-2016 Children’s Bureau demonstration project.

A common cause of informal kinship care placements, as reported by kinship navigators, social services staff, and service providers, is diversion. Diversion refers to the involvement of child welfare departments in utilizing relative caregivers or significant family friends, together referred to as “kin,” as alternatives to foster care placements.