Kin-Care First
Kin-Care First programming is dedicated to ensuring that children and youth can remain within their communities, surrounded by individuals with whom they share a significant emotional connection.
The goal of NYAP’s Kin-Care First program is to reduce trauma and establish permanency on behalf of children and youth served. This is accomplished by providing an array of evidence-informed practices that uniquely support children, youth, and kinship caregivers. This keeps children and youth out of foster care, treatment facilities, and congregate care and, most importantly, allows them to live with people they know and trust. ational outcomes.
Kin-Care First Services
Kin finding and engagement
Support plans and services
Permanency and aftercare services
Navigation services
What is Kinship Care?
Kinship caregivers may be actual kin such as an aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent and may also include fictive kin, who are other reliable, but unrelated adults with a relationship with a given child or youth and an interest in their well-being. Fictive kin may include a family friend, neighbor or an employee of the child or youth’s school.
Kinship care can be used on a short-term basis to provide a family of origin time to resolve their challenges and remain intact. Kinship care can also become a permanent placement for a child or youth through guardianship, adoption, or other legal agreement, when it is not possible for a primary family to retain custody.
Why Kinship Care?
Research demonstrates that children and youth experience significantly less trauma when placed with a trusted adult with whom they have a preexisting positive relationship. Children and youth living with kinship caregivers experience significantly less placement disruptions, are more likely to stay connected to family and culture, live with siblings, and reunify. Children and youth living with kinship caregivers benefit from feelings of belonging, experience fewer behavioral challenges, and achieve better educational outcomes.
How can you help?
Are you a child welfare entity looking to establish or enhance your kinship programming? We are eager to collaborate with you. Reach out to us today to learn more.
If you know of a child or youth who may be in need of a temporary place to live, you may be qualified to become a kinship caregiver.
