o More equitable policies are needed to ensure services and supports for kinship families – whether they care for children on an informal or formal basis, and whether the arrangement is temporary or permanent. The traditional role that kinship care has played in communities of color – a role that is evident in current care giving arrangements – must be supported through policies that recognize the benefits of kinship care. Among the many benefits of kinship care is its ability to maintain children within their own families, averting the need for foster care entry; maintain children within their own families and communities when they must enter foster care; and provide children with stable, loving permanent care when they cannot return to their parents. These strengths of kinship care, if appropriately recognized and supported by policy, can play a significant role in addressing the disproportional representation of children of color in the child welfare system. (Freundlich, Morris, & Hernandez, 2003)
