Kinship Care Enhancement Act

Summary#

The bill adds rules to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to strengthen support and protections for children being raised by relatives or close family friends (“kinship families” or “grandfamilies”), especially those living outside the foster care system. The main change is to direct federal guidance, reporting, training, and grant requirements to recognize kinship caregivers and to encourage prioritizing kin placements. The broad goal is to help children raised by kin get appropriate services, to train and support kinship caregivers, and to improve information-sharing about effective practices.

• Adds organizations serving kinship families, birth parents, kinship caregivers, and foster care alumni to the federal advisory board.
• Directs the national CAPTA clearinghouse to coordinate with a Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network to share evidence-based practices for kinship families.
• Requires grant procedures to prioritize placing children with kin, engage kin as supports, prioritize licensing kin as foster parents, and support permanent kinship families.
• Adds kinship navigators and questions about kinship prioritization to state grant reporting and monitoring.
• Expands community prevention grant purposes and local program rules to include kinship families and to require training for kinship caregivers on children’s behavioral health, substance use, and trauma.

What it means for you#

• Kinship caregivers (grandparents and other relatives or close family friends):

  • May get more targeted training on caring for children with behavioral or mental health needs.
  • May see programs that help them navigate services (kinship navigators).
  • The law encourages states and programs to prioritize placing children with kin and to help kin become licensed foster parents if appropriate.

• Children raised by kin (inside or outside foster care):

  • Could be more likely to be identified as a priority when a placement is needed.
  • Could have better access to services if states follow the new guidance and coordinate with kinship support networks.

• Birth parents and foster care alumni:

  • Gain representation on the federal advisory board that advises CAPTA policy.

• State and local agencies that receive CAPTA grants:

  • Must reflect kinship equity in their procedures and reporting.
  • Must add or report on how kinship placements are prioritized.
  • May need to include kinship navigators among partners.

• Community organizations that run CAPTA-funded prevention programs:

  • Must include services and training tailored to kinship families as an explicit goal.
  • May need to expand training content to cover substance use disorders, trauma, and accessing services.

• National clearinghouse and the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network:

  • Will be asked to coordinate and share models and best practices for supporting kinship families.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

• The bill text does not set new funding amounts or appropriate money.
• Likely costs that could follow if implemented include administrative costs for states to change procedures and reporting systems.
• Programs may need money for new training, hiring kinship navigators, outreach, and data collection.
• Community organizations may face costs to expand services or run new training programs.
• Without specific funding in the bill, states or groups would have to absorb these costs or seek other funding.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to recognize the large number of children being raised by relatives or close family friends and to fill gaps in support for those families.
• Supporters may argue that prioritizing kin placements and licensing kin as foster parents helps children stay with family and can be better for child stability.
• The bill could improve access to services by encouraging states to identify kinship needs and by promoting training on trauma and substance use.
• Coordinating the national clearinghouse with a Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network could spread evidence-based practices more widely.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is that the bill does not include new funding, so states and local programs may lack resources to implement the changes.
• The bill may increase administrative and reporting burdens on state agencies without specifying how those costs will be covered.
• It is unclear how states will identify and report children who were diverted to kin outside the foster system, and how services will be provided to those children.
• The bill sets priorities and guidance but does not specify enforcement, timelines, or measurable outcomes to judge whether kinship supports actually improve services.