Kinship Care More Beneficial Than Foster Care, Study Finds

Kinship Care More Beneficial Than Foster Care, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (June 4, 2008) — Children removed from their homes after reports of (alleged) maltreatment have significantly fewer behavior problems three years after placement with relatives than if they are put into foster care, according to new research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The study, which looked at a national sample of 1,309 U.S. children removed from their home between October 1999 and December 2000 following reports of (alleged) maltreatment, is published in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The results of the study provide compelling evidence to support efforts in recent years to identify what is sometimes referred to as "kinship care" as an alternative for placing children into non-relative foster care and to maximize the supports and services that will help children achieve permanency in these settings.

"For a long time people have debated the value of kin in providing both stability and permanency to children in foster care," said David M. Rubin, M.D., M.S.C.E., a pediatric researcher at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of the study. "Our results suggest for the first time, in a national population group, that family care may offer protective value in terms of well-being and stability for children in out-of-home care."