September 2024Vol. 25, No. 7Leveraging Technology to Strengthen Kinship Care

Written by Children's Bureau Division of State Systems staff

Kinship care—where children and youth live with kin (that is, relatives such as aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, or extended family) or nonrelative kin (such as a person or persons with close ties to the child or family)—has become an important focus in meeting the needs of those involved with the child welfare system. Federal law now acknowledges the unique role that kin can play in providing a stable and nurturing environment for vulnerable children.

While kinship care is preferred to maintain family connections and cultural traditions, identifying and supporting kin caregivers can be challenging. Fortunately, technology can help streamline the use of kinship care and increase success rates in the following areas.

Identifying and Locating Potential Relatives

Issue: Agency workers may not readily be able to identify potential caregivers from a child's case record or have access to updated contact information. Historically, child welfare staff have resorted to a labor-intensive process called "case mining" to obtain these data. Case mining, also referred to as "case-record mining" or "data mining," involves manually sifting through structured and unstructured data that are maintained in paper and electronic files, which can span multiple years of a child's life and many child welfare activities.

Solution: Technology and automation can greatly support the case-mining process by analyzing vast amounts of data across multiple databases and then cross-referencing the information.

Other tools, such as natural language processing software, can extract and organize relevant data from unstructured narrative fields and transform the data into meaningful analysis and insights. The result is improved access to case information, an expanded pool of potential caregivers, and a workforce empowered to make better-informed decisions.

Accessing and organizing valuable information is only part of the solution—understanding family connections is equally important. Embedding tools in information systems that are designed to help child welfare professionals track and visualize family connections, such as genograms, can help both gather information about potential caregivers and understand relationship dynamics that aid in identifying suitable care situations.

Finally, information about a child or youth's family may exist in systems that are external to the child welfare system. This is one of the reasons why regulations for the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) include mandated and optional data exchanges [1355.52(e)1-2] that can help identify and locate kin and nonrelative kin. These data exchanges include the Office of Child Support Services' (title IV-D) Parent Locator Services, Medicaid, and other eligibility programs. CCWIS technical bulletin 8, the data exchanges self-assessment tool, and IM 12-06 provide additional guidance on CCWIS data exchanges.

The Children’s Bureau acknowledges that disproportionality and disparity for children and youth of color is a concern in child welfare (Administration for Children and Families, 2022). Data indicate that Black and African American, American Indian and Alaskan Native, and other children of color are disproportionally represented (Children's Bureau, 2024). It is critical that agencies consider equity when automating case-mining tools and building data exchanges in information systems. As such, agencies should engage a diverse group of individuals with lived experience throughout all stages of implementing case-mining processes.

Streamlining Licensing and Support

Issue: Kin caregivers face administrative hurdles when becoming foster families.

Solution: CCWIS offers an opportunity for innovative approaches by title IV-E agencies to explore options that will best meet their needs. One approach could be external-facing portals for families, young people, and resource caregivers. These programs can use technology to make it easier for kin to step forward by streamlining administrative tasks, guiding caregivers through the licensing process, providing essential information on legal and other requirements, and connecting kin to support and services (Casey Family Programs, 2023). Using portals and collaborative platforms not only improves the process for kin caregivers but also increases efficiency for child welfare professionals who often must coordinate this strenuous licensing process for multiple families at a time.

Conclusion

As we celebrate National Kinship Care Month and National Child Welfare Workforce Development Month, let us recognize the important role that technology plays in strengthening kinship care and supporting the effective and efficient delivery of services, thereby easing the burden on the workforce. By leveraging technology, we can ensure that more children maintain crucial connections and, if necessary, find permanent homes within their extended families. We can also increase the quality of care and value of services provided to families, youth, and caregivers.