Kinship Diversion Resources

2023 Chapin Hall report examining kinship diversion, listing the evidence surrounding its practice, and giving policy and practice recommendations.

One of the most fundamental differences between kinship/grandfamilies and parent-headed families is the lack of an automatic legal relationship between the caregiver and child. Without such a relationship, access to services and supports for the child and their kinship/grandfamily can be challenging, if not impossible.

This webinar explores the various legal relationship options and the array of public benefits and tax credits that are available to these families. Presented by the Director of the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center, Ana Beltran, JD, and Network subject matter expert, Heidi Redlich Epstein, MSW, JD, Director of Kinship Policy and State Projects, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.

2021 report by the New York State Kincare Coalition and Kinship Navigator explaining the basics and prevalence of safety plans and hidden foster care. It then describes proposed legislation, 2021 AB 8090, as a potential solution to issues surrounding hidden foster care.

2020 Stanford Law Review article written by South Carolina Law professor Josh Gupta-Kagan. The article examines "hidden foster care" - when child protection agencies induce parents to transfer physical custody of their children to kinship caregivers by threatening to place the children in foster care and bring them to family court - and and advocates for regulation.

ABA article by Angie Schwartz and Cathy Krebs explaining hidden foster care, related legal issues, and its human impact, and offering potential solutions.