Of Kin and Culture: US Children and International Kinship Care Placements

Through voluntary or forced migration, families enter the United States as refugees, asylum seekers, documented or undocumented immigrants, students or temporary or skilled workers. They bring children or give birth to children who become citizens by virtue of having been born in the new homeland. Inevitably, some of these families will interact with public child welfare systems. Children are placed in foster care when parents die, are incarcerated, institutionalised, or abandon or neglect their children. When evaluating placement decisions for these children, child welfare workers usually overlook the resources of family members outside of the country. Grandparents and other close kin often have the ability and motivation to provide care for vulnerable relative children. Through case description and summary of domestic laws and international conventions, Dana Naughton and Kerry L Fay identify challenges to cross-border placements and make recommendations for further research and consideration.