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In a survey of child welfare professionals across the United States — conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption — 79% of participants said engaging a child’s family of origin in the process of achieving legal permanency is very important. However, only 25% believe that their organization is very effective at doing it.

We know that terminating the legal relationship between a child and their family of origin does not always terminate the emotional relationship. When safe and appropriate, maintaining connections to kin can promote a child’s sense of identity, belonging and stability. It can also help open doors to legal permanency.

Even when they cannot serve as a permanent placement, biological parents and other family members often have a wealth of knowledge about the child and important connections in their life to help build a network of potential permanency resources. Engaging kin can also help youth overcome feelings of guilt and fears about betraying their family of origin.

In this video, hear from Magistrate Kathleen Lenski, of Ohio, about why it’s so important to engage a child’s family of origin on the path to legal permanency.

Overcoming Barriers to Engage Kin

While many child welfare professionals recognize the importance of engaging family of origin, they are likely to face hurdles along the way. Below are some common barriers as well as strategies to help overcome them.

• Negative biases toward families of origin, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, can sometimes cloud the perception of adults on a child’s team. For example, team members may ask, “Where were these relatives before?” or declare, “They’ll just let the child down again.” Giving in to these biases can narrow the search for a permanent family.
  
  Consider reframing the conversation to emphasize that gathering information from a child’s family of origin can create more options for permanency. It’s also important to recognize that many young people maintain connections with their family of origin, regardless of whether the child’s team approves of it. So, if youth want to stay in touch with family, we should help them do it in a safe way. In a study of youth adopted through the Foundation’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, nearly all (96%) had contact with at least one family member after their adoption.


• Getting buy-in from the child’s team can be difficult. Some may say that there’s not enough time to reach kin or that those family members were already ruled out as permanency options years ago. The reality is that circumstances can change.
  
  Invite the team to brainstorm engagement strategies at the beginning, so it feels collaborative and not imposed. You may also share stories in which engaging kin led to permanency for a child.


• False promises from kin (e.g., a relative who pledges to adopt the child only to disappear or cancel visits) can heighten a child’s feelings of rejection and add to the trauma they have already experienced.
  
  When engaging family of origin, start with small commitments (e.g., weekly calls) and determine their capacity to help. You may ask, “What level of support is realistic for you at this time?”

In this video, Kristy, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter from New York, shares how she overcame barriers to finalize a legal guardianship between a youth and her biological sister.

What Does Effective Engagement Look Like?

In the child welfare system, most efforts to reach out to kin happen early in the child’s foster care journey and only focus on notification. Federal law requires that adult relatives be notified within 30 days of a child’s placement in foster care and about what the relative’s options are in caring for the child. But effective engagement goes beyond simply calling or writing a letter to notify kin and should continue until legal permanency is achieved. It requires building a relationship over time that is grounded in respect, empathy, trust and open-mindedness, with the goal to:

• Gather information about the youth’s network and family history
• Make meaningful connections between relatives and the youth, when safe and appropriate
• Include family of origin as part of the youth’s permanency team, helping to develop strategies and plan for the youth’s future

This approach allows relatives to help the youth even if they are not ready, or are uncertain if they can serve as a permanent placement. And it is less intimidating than receiving a letter only giving them the option to be a placement for the child.

Through our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption professionals, known as recruiters, who use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find permanent families for the longest-waiting children in foster care. Permanency may include adoption, legal guardianship or reunification when it is a safe option. 

A key component of the model is conducting a diligent search to identify family and other adults in a child’s network who could support permanency. When reaching out to kin for the first time, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters explain that they are looking for information about family members who may be interested in connecting with the youth. Then, they inquire about family details the child may want to know, including: 

• What does the family of origin remember about the child?
• How can the child safely build relationships with family to maintain connections to their culture and community?
• Where is the family from, and where do they live now?
• Are there any medical issues that run in the family?
• Do they have the knowledge and skills required to parent the child?
• What is the family’s religion and ethnicity? How do they celebrate holidays?

Recruiters end these conversations by letting relatives know that they made a positive contribution to finding a permanent family for the child.

Family situations change, and people change. When it’s safe, engaging family of origin is critical to achieving permanency for youth in foster care. While a relative may not adopt the child, they can provide valuable information and support to keep the youth connected with their kin, culture and community and find them a safe, permanent home.

The Foundation is committed to collaborating with and elevating the impact of child welfare professionals. Join our community to receive stories of impact, insights and tools to support your life-changing work.