Licensed kinship care resembles nonrelative foster care. In both, the county DSS has legal custody of the children. Like all states, NC has requirements (e.g., training, background checks, etc.) that non-kin foster parents must meet before they can care for children in foster care. In NC, kinship caregivers must meet these same requirements to be licensed as a foster parent. However, they may be given more time than non-kin to do this because placement of the children is often unexpected.<\/p>\n
Compared to those who are unlicensed, licensed kin caregivers have more structured involvement with the child welfare agency and access to more services. This can be helpful in working with the children\u2019s parents, schools, or medical care arrangements. On the other hand, licensed caregivers may have less flexibility than unlicensed caregivers to make independent decisions about the children.<\/p>\n
In licensed kinship care, agencies conduct criminal background checks and child abuse registry checks on all adult household members in the home. Agencies must consider the home\u2019s size and condition, the caregiver\u2019s income, others who live in the home, and available transportation. Some licensing requirements may be waived if they do not affect the child\u2019s health or safety. To be licensed, kinship caregivers must also complete 30 hours of training. Once licensed, they receive financial support from the agency in the form of monthly board payments.<\/p>\n
Both licensed and unlicensed kin caregivers can expect child welfare agencies to be involved in the following ways when children are in foster care:<\/p>\n
Supervision\/support<\/strong><\/em>. Agencies will support all family members to help ensure the children are safe and doing well. As part of this, the worker makes phone calls and periodic visits to the home. The worker may also provide referrals for services, such as counseling. Typically, kin caregivers will take the children to medical appointments and work with children\u2019s schools. In some situations, workers have more responsibility for these services. The worker and family members, including the kinship caregivers, should work together to ensure children\u2019s needs are met.<\/p>\n Visits<\/strong><\/em>. In most situations, the court will encourage parents to visit their children. The child welfare worker will work with the parents and kinship caregivers to make arrangements for the visits. In some cases, kinship caregivers may be responsible for providing transportation for the children or for supervising the visits in their own home. For siblings who are not living together, maintaining contact through visits and other means is also important.<\/p>\n Service planning<\/strong><\/em>. With input from the parents and often from the children, relatives, and others, the child welfare agency will develop a service plan (sometimes called a \u201ccase plan\u201d or \u201cpermanency plan\u201d). The service plan covers two major issues:<\/p>\n Next Steps<\/strong><\/em>. If you are a kinship caregiver in North Carolina and you are interested in exploring becoming licensed, contact your child\u2019s social worker. Or, to learn more about the licensing process, visit https:\/\/bit.ly\/2ksiUns<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n