September is National Kinship Care Month! When a child is removed from their home, they can be placed in a foster home or a group facility, but the preferred placement is with someone with whom the child already has a strong relationship. This is called kinship care.
Kinship placements allow children in the child welfare system to be placed with family members. This can greatly improve their experience in foster care, keeping them closer to their communities and loved ones.
There are many benefits for a child when they are placed with a kinship caregiver rather than placed in a traditional foster home. These benefits include:
The child will experience less trauma and have a greater feeling of stability;
Sibling groups are more likely to stay together;
The child is more likely to remain within their community of origin, typically allowing them to remain in their school and maintain connections to their cultural identity; and
Once a child in kinship care exits the foster care system, they are less likely to re-enter.
Helps us keep families together! By supporting CASA, YOU help reunite families.
Because of your support, CASA was able to provide a maternal great aunt with a highchair and crib. Great-aunt Susan has never had children before and was willing to take in her four great-nieces and nephews, ages ranging from toddler to middle school. When CASA Maria went to visit the children in their new home, great-aunt Susan was very pleased when she was told the highchair and crib would be delivered this week. She got very emotional during the visit and cried, saying that she loves the children and could not sit still knowing they were in a foster home away from their family.
Thanks to your generosity, the sibling group is out of foster care and with a loving relative.