IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v52y2015icp184-191.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Kinship Services Network Program: Five year evaluation of family support and case management for informal kinship families

Author

Listed:
  • Littlewood, Kerry

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to seek to better understand if a community-based family support program, Kinship Services Network (KSN), can improve the social support and family resource needs for kinship families and promote safety and permanence for children in informal kinship placements at a low cost. During the five year evaluation period, KSN served 2956 participants in one urban southeastern county. A stratified random sample of participants completed pre- and post-assessments of their perceived social support and adequacy of family resource needs. Administrative data was used to determine whether children of all participants remained in the care of a relative twelve months after program completion. Cost estimates were used to compare the costs for several placement options for children. Additionally, a case example is used to illustrate program implementation. Participants in the program improved their adequacy of social support and improved family resource needs (p<.001). Ninety-nine percent of participants' children did not enter the child welfare system at twelve month follow-up, showing placement stability and child safety. KSN cost of service is less than half the costs associated with adjudicating a child dependent. Non-relative foster care is 6× (six times) and residential group care is more than 21× (twenty-one times) as expensive as the KSN Program. Recommendations are provided to help community based organizations promote case management and family support services in their own communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Littlewood, Kerry, 2015. "Kinship Services Network Program: Five year evaluation of family support and case management for informal kinship families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 184-191.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:184-191
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.10.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914003703
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.10.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ehrle, Jennifer & Geen, Rob, 2002. "Kin and non-kin foster care--findings from a National Survey," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 15-35.
    2. Strozier, Anne & McGrew, LaSandra & Krisman, Kerry & Smith, Aaron, 2005. "Kinship care connection: A school-based intervention for kinship caregivers and the children in their care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1011-1029, September.
    3. Koh, Eun & Testa, Mark F., 2011. "Children discharged from kin and non-kin foster homes: Do the risks of foster care re-entry differ?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1497-1505, September.
    4. Strozier, Anne L. & Krisman, Kerry, 2007. "Capturing caregiver data: An examination of kinship care custodial arrangements," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 226-246, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gleeson, James P. & Hsieh, Chang-ming & Cryer-Coupet, Qiana, 2016. "Social support, family competence, and informal kinship caregiver parenting stress: The mediating and moderating effects of family resources," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 32-42.
    2. Lee, Daniel Hyung Jik & Huerta, Christina & Farmer, Elizabeth M.Z., 2021. "Kinship navigation: Facilitating permanency and equity for youth in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Qi & White, Kevin R. & Coleman, Kanisha L., 2015. "Effects of kinship care on behavioral problems by child age: A propensity score analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-8.
    2. Font, Sarah A., 2015. "Are children safer with kin? A comparison of maltreatment risk in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 20-29.
    3. Xu, Yanfeng & Bright, Charlotte Lyn, 2018. "Children's mental health and its predictors in kinship and non-kinship foster care: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 243-262.
    4. Koh, Eun & Daughtery, Laura & Ware, Allysa, 2022. "Informal kinship caregivers’ parenting experience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Lin, Ching-Hsuan, 2014. "Evaluating Services for Kinship Care Families: A Systematic Review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 32-41.
    6. Berrick, Jill Duerr & Hernandez, Julia, 2016. "Developing consistent and transparent kinship care policy and practice: State mandated, mediated, and independent care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 24-33.
    7. Strozier, Anne L., 2012. "The effectiveness of support groups in increasing social support for kinship caregivers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 876-881.
    8. Berrick, Jill Duerr & Boyd, Reiko, 2016. "Financial well-being in family-based foster care: Exploring variation in income supports for kin and non-kin caregivers in California," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 166-173.
    9. Littlewood, Kerry A. & Strozier, Anne L. & Whittington, Danielle, 2014. "Kin as Teachers: An early childhood education and support intervention for kinship families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-9.
    10. Hedin, Lena & Höjer, Ingrid & Brunnberg, Elinor, 2011. "Settling into a new home as a teenager: About establishing social bonds in different types of foster families in Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2282-2289.
    11. Stone, Susan, 2007. "Child maltreatment, out-of-home placement and academic vulnerability: A fifteen-year review of evidence and future directions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 139-161, February.
    12. Rabassa, Judit & Fuentes-Peláez, Nuria, 2023. "Effectiveness of group intervention in improving kinship care families’ outcomes: A systematic review of group interventions aimed at kinship caregivers and youth in kinship care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Ryan, Joseph P. & Hong, Jun Sung & Herz, Denise & Hernandez, Pedro M., 2010. "Kinship foster care and the risk of juvenile delinquency," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1823-1830, December.
    14. Sharda, Elizabeth A. & Sutherby, Carolyn G. & Cavanaugh, Daniel L. & Hughes, Anne K. & Woodward, Amanda T., 2019. "Parenting stress, well-being, and social support among kinship caregivers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 74-80.
    15. Stene, Katherine L. & Dow-Fleisner, Sarah J. & Ermacora, Dylan & Agathen, Jean & Falconnier, Lydia & Stager, Megan & Wells, Susan J., 2020. "Measuring the quality of care in kinship foster care placements," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    16. Harding, Leith & Murray, Kate & Shakespeare-Finch, Jane & Frey, Ron, 2020. "The wellbeing of foster and kin carers: A comparative study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Schoemaker, Nikita K. & Juffer, Femmie & Rippe, Ralph C.A. & Vermeer, Harriet J. & Stoltenborgh, Marije & Jagersma, Gabrine J. & Maras, Athanasios & Alink, Lenneke R.A., 2020. "Positive parenting in foster care: Testing the effectiveness of a video-feedback intervention program on foster parents’ behavior and attitudes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    18. Victor, Bryan G. & Ryan, Joseph P. & Moore, Andrew & Mowbray, Orion & Evangelist, Michael & Perron, Brian E., 2016. "Foster home licensing and risk of reentry to out-of-home care following family reunification," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 112-119.
    19. Fechter-Leggett, Molly O. & O'Brien, Kirk, 2010. "The effects of kinship care on adult mental health outcomes of alumni of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 206-213, February.
    20. Cheng, Tyrone C. & Lo, Celia C., 2021. "With their children placed in kinship care, did parents get the services they needed?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:52:y:2015:i:c:p:184-191. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.