Kinship Foster Care: Policy, Practice, and Research

As the number of children in foster care increases and the number of potential foster families declines, more than 31% of all children in state custody are now being placed with extended family members who collect payment for their care. This raises many important and controversial issues regarding the meaning of family, the role of government, and the nature of welfare. Although professional literature on the subject continues to expand, knowledge on this subject remains scarce.
Kinship Foster Care is the first text to offer a comprehensive analysis of what is considered to be the fastest growing type of substitute care for children in state custody. It assembles the thinking and research of prominent researchers, policy advocates, and practice specialists from several professional fields, detailing their work, research, and thoughts concerning the three topics of kinship care: policy, practice, and research. The editors have contributed the initial and concluding chapters. Together, their work incorporates new literature on the subject as well as a large share of previously published material, now available in this one complete volume. Ideal for courses in social work as well as for the general professional, Kinship Foster Care offers an important first look at this growing phenomenon.

Rebecca Hegar and Maria Scannapieco are both at University of Texas.