Kinship Care: What the Research Tells Us
September 8, 2026
Annotated Bibliography: Peer-Reviewed Research on Kinship Caregivers
Fact Sheet: Children Thrive in Grandfamilies
Chapin Hall and Generations United and its Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network hosted the first in a two-part series exploring kinship care— both within foster care and outside of that system.
During this webinar, we walked through what the research actually shows about placing children with kin rather than with caregivers who do not already share their family, culture, and community connections. That evidence is a major reason there has been a federal preference for placing children with relatives for almost thirty years, why states have built on that preference in their own laws, and why the movement toward kin-first child welfare agencies continues to gain momentum. But the research varies in quality — some of it is well-established, some of it is still debated, and some areas remain genuinely limited. We discussed all three to provide an accurate picture of what we know and do not yet know.
This webinar sets the stage for an October 27, 2026, webinar exploring policy and programmatic innovations in support of all forms of kinship care.
Presenters:
- Dr. Tyreasa Washington, Network Subject Matter Expert
- Dr. Claire Kimberly, Chapin Hall
- Jaia Lent, Generations United