1. A New Approach to Servicing Families
The Natural Fit: Kinship Care and Family Group Decision Making: A Second Chance, Inc.
A New Approach to Servicing Families

2. Agenda
Introduction to the practice of kinship care specific to A Second Chance Inc.
An Overview of how kinship care lends itself to better outcomes for children and families – safety, permanency & well-being.
The Natural Fit of Kinship Care and Family Group Decision Making: When and how to introduce and incorporate Family Group Decision Making into work with kinship families.
 A closer look at how FGDM is incorporated into case planning from the onset of the case.
A look at various effective outreach approaches to be utilized with families.
Collaboration with the county and service providers
Hands on approaches with how to effectively engage with the county will be discussed.

3. What does Kinship Care mean to you?

4. A Second Chance, Inc. Two Decades of Commitment to Kinship Care
ASCI began as a vision of President and CEO Dr. Sharon McDaniel while serving in another professional capacity. It was there that she saw firsthand the disparity between the large number of African-American children requiring out-of-home placement care, with the availability of African-American families providing such care.
Currently servicing Allegheny, Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester and Berks Counties.
ASCI provides Kinship Foster Care, Emergency Kinship Placement Services, SWAN, FGDM, and Family Finding.

5. Kinship Care is a Practice
The number of children being raised by kin over the last ten years increased by 18%.*
At least 1 in 11 children will spend some amount of time in kinship care before the age of 18. For African American children the is true for 1 in 5 children.
Kinship care is a practice embedded in the child welfare system.
*Annie E. Casey Foundation: Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families,

6. Kinship as a Catalyst for Safety
There is lesser likelihood that children will experience another occurrence of abuse or neglect when placed in kinship care compared to children placed in non- relative care.*
Some studies indicate that children in non-relative care are 10 times more likely to have a new allegation of abuse or neglect.**
*Center for Law and Social Policy: Is Kinship Care Good for Kids? Conway and Hutson, 2007
** Families in Society: A Matched Comparison of Children in Kinship Care & Foster Care on Child Welfare Outcomes, Winokur & Crawford

7. Kinship as a Catalyst for Stability & Permanency
Children placed in kinship care experience fewer placements.
Children placed in kinship care are less likely to experience school movements – 63% of children in kinship care compared to 80% of children in non-relative care.
Research indicates that children who reunify with birth parents following kinship care placements are less likely to experience a re-entry into care than children placed with non- relatives.
* Center for Law and Social Policy: Is Kinship Care Good for Kids? Conway and Hutson, 2007

8. Challenges of Kinship Care

9. FGDM Influences Casework Stages FGDM Influences Preventing placement
Identify informal Kinship resources
Finding Out of Home Care
Identify Kinship
placement
Stabilizing Out of Home Care Placement
Implementing Family Support for Kinship placement
Permanency
Connect Triad

10. A Second Chance, Inc.’s FGDM History & Successes
40% Reunification occurred with biological parents or family
Almost half of our successful plans resulted in the reunification of the children to their parents and/or family members. Families came together to offer supports and assist in the process of reunification.
21% Kinship resource established
About ¼ of our successes resulted in identifying other family for youth and/or parents. Family members were identified to provide supports, foster care or a permanent placement after discharge of a child from a facility.
32% Placements prevented and family supports were established
More than ¼ of our successes for the year were due to families creating a family support team to prevent foster care placement of children.

11. Success Stories: A Tale of Kinship Care

12. Incorporating FGDM into Kinship Case Planning
Connects the Triad
Ensures the Communication
Emphasis Relationship Building
Provides a Framework for the Plan
Shares Ownership for the Success of the Plan

13. Collaboration Changing the Lens to Family Driven Services
Beyond Collaboration to Partnerships
Integrating New Counties into an Existing
System
CHILD
The County
Service Providers
A Second Chance

14. A Second Chance, Inc. Contact Us
Caitlin Price, Regional VP Ahmad Kamara, Child and Family Services Director Souki Kyne, Supervisor 1341 N. Delaware Ave. Suite 101 Philadelphia, PA