Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care

Kinship care is part tradition and part social welfare policy. Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care examines the balance of the two perspectives and presents current practice challenges of formal and informal kinship care. This important resource focuses on both the needs of the caregiver as well as the impact of kinship care on children. Public policy issues related to kinship care are discussed in detail. This insightful book explores this crucial issue through the lens of social workers who fully understand the strengths and challenges of kinship care.

Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care discusses this issue from both micro and macro levels, explaining the outcomes of kinship based on variables such as the youth’s and parent’s outlook for the future, performance in school, welfare reform, domestic violence, respite care, spirituality, and involvement of nonbiological relatives. The book then focuses on the subject of grandparents as caregivers, examining their coping resources, effectiveness of programs serving them, and recommended changes to services to enhance their well-being.

Topics in Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care include:

• study examining the future outlook in African American kinship care families

• the effect of family disruption on a child’s educational performance

• the impact of the Temporary Assistance to Need Families (TANF) legislation and future policy

• links between domestic violence and kinship care

• the role of spirituality and religion in kinship care

• a study on the needs of biological parents

• the impact of a grandparent’s parenting responsibilities on his or her psychological well-being

• intergenerational communication

• kinship care in public housing

• examination of the factors that influence kinship care provided by African American grandfathers

• AARP study of grandparents raising grandchildren in the District of Columbia

• the KinNET project funded by the Children’s Bureau for a national support network for kinship care providers

Tradition and Policy Perspectives in Kinship Care is an invaluable resource for social workers, counselors, child welfare agency administrators and practitioners, educators, and graduate students.