1. PCWC 2016 Presenter: Daniel Kikulwe
Use and utilization of Kinship Care placements in the Prairie provinces: Implications for social work
PCWC
2016
Presenter: Daniel Kikulwe

2. Agenda Children’s rights Provincial child welfare kinship policies
kinship placements and implications for social work

3. Children’s rights
A global shift to focus on kinship placements as an option for children who cannot remain in their parents’ care.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The United Nations General Assembly Guidelines on Alternative Care Guidelines.
Convention is strongly supported by the UN General Assembly resolution on Alternative Care Guidelines

4. Children’s rights
Under Article 20 (2) of the Convention, States Parties are obligated to provide Alternative Care for children who are temporarily or permanently removed from family environments
Canada became a signatory to the Convention in 1990 and ratified it in 1991.
The discussion of kinship care is consistent with the children’s needs and priorities identified in the Convention and the UN Guidelines on Alternate Care.

5. Children’s rights
The central argument is that kinship homes are not simply placements but they provide cultural permanency for children.
Dendy’s (2016) defines cultural permanency as a belief that a child needs to maintain their connection to historical roots, language, ethnicity, traditions and heritage.
It is not uncommon that policy and practice initiatives in pursuit of permanency for children direct efforts toward establishing State wardships and adoptions.

6. Children’s rights
Under Article 20(3) of the Convention, the UN philosophy of cultural continuity of the child is evident as there is a strong focus on the child's ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background (Wright, 2006, p. 2).
kinship care arrangements must be supported (Leschied, MacKay, Raghunandan, Sharpe & Sookoor, 2007) by signatories of the Convention.
Protecting children within kinship systems also mean protecting and preserving their families (Bennett, Blackstock & De La Ronde, 2005)
The problem is that the Convention is not well publicized as a pivotal child’s rights international treaty

7. Children’s rights
The focus cannot continue to be in the “best interest of the child” outside of their families and histories.
Even when removed from their homes, children can have meaningful access to their families
A child’s connection to his/her community is not in conflict with their best interest.

8. Child welfare policies
Reviewed six policy documents
The key questions to be addressed in this section are:
what are the policies and legislations that apply to kinship care in the 3 Prairie provinces;
what are limitations of the kinship policies in the Prairie provinces?
State Parties are obligated to undertake all appropriate, legislative and administrative measures to implement the child’s rights ideals as articulated in the Convention under article 4

9. Child welfare policies
Overall, the relational permanency is emphasized in several Prairie provincial child welfare Acts, which is consistent with the Convention.
With the exception of Manitoba, the other two provinces have developed specific policies that treat kinship foster care differently than non-kin foster care.
The Alberta kinship policy also requires that attention be paid to the family history and that poverty should not be considered as a barrier to placement.
Saskatchewan’s children manual has some interesting wording that requires child protection workers to regularly explore extended family placement as part of the ongoing case planning for a child in care

10. Child welfare policies
Having a specific provincial kinship policy is significant:
Acknowledged kinship care as a unique form of permanency for children
It allows for discussions of issues and concerns that are specific to kin caregivers.
It can also be beneficial and add to social work education and research, we still need to understand new areas of kinship placements

11. Child welfare policies
Limitations
Under utilization of kinship placements
Traditional values and cultural beliefs have been de-prioritized within the child welfare system.
Others have argued that the under-utilization of kinship placements is because “present-day child welfare policies and practice continue to fuel historical harms
There is still little confidence in the capacity of Indigenous and racialized families to raise their children
The under-utilization of kinship foster home could also be attributed to a requirement for child welfare agencies to complete assessments on potential kinship caregivers

12. Child welfare policies
Limitations
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2012), in its Concluding Observations, recommended that Canada’s actions to address disparities in the treatment of Indigenous children should include:
taking “urgent measures to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous and African-Canadian children in the criminal justice system and out-of-home care;”
The Child Welfare League of America argues that some flexibility should be exercised relating to compliances and standards unrelated to child protection and safety

13. Social Work Implications
Applying the Convention in social work practice means putting children at the centre.
Kinship placements can provide stability for children
With stability, children’s emotional security, safety, sense of belonging and the likelihood of healthy self-esteem is enhanced.
Embracing this child rights approach would also mean that the needs of the potential kin caregivers need to be prioritized.

14. Social Work Implications
What is known is that kinship placements are critical because of the increasing number of children in care and a declining foster care system.
Callahan et al (2004) noted that the increasing number of child placements is costly and unsustainable for the Canadian child welfare system.
Fuchs, Burnside, Marchenski and Mudry (2007) argue that the rising child welfare costs in Manitoba are partly due to the increasing number of children in care who have medical, physical, intellectual, and mental health disabilities.

15. Social Work Implications
Twigg (2009) argues that one outcome of this shortage of foster care spaces is the growing number of children being placed in hotels.