Frankie is 14 years old and lives with his sister, brothers, and moms. He and his sister were adopted when they were 2 years old and 4 years old, respectively. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins and loves being part of a big family.

Learn how Anntesha’s experience as a child living with her grandparents and later in foster care influenced her to become a relative caregiver to her niece and nephew and work as a kinship navigator. 

Learn about Catherine’s journey recovering from trauma and addiction to be successfully reunified with her daughter.

Discover the key components of the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Training Academy.

​Learn from people with lived experience about the impact of kinship care on children in the child welfare system.

Learn about Dezzie’s experience bonding with her newborn while embracing parenting classes and other agency supports in her journey to be reunified with her daughter.

See strategies and examples for partnering with faith-based communities and leaders on behalf of children and youth in foster care waiting to be adopted.

Learn how leveraging NGO connections in the community can help child welfare systems be more flexible and adaptable in achieving program goals.

Get ideas for working with community foundations, endowments, and charitable trusts to improve outcomes for children and youth.

Identify data sources to explore your state’s system of foster and adoptive parent licensing, recruitment, and retention.

Explore the Center’s Focused Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Services training curriculum and learn more about how it can be used to support a team’s CQI goals.

Bruce and Brenda have been married for 33 years and have four daughters. From 2006 to 2009, they provided a kinship placement for their four grandchildren. In 2010, the couple adopted Bruce (now 18 years old), Tre’Nae (now 15 years old), Mason (now 13 years old), and Kiaunna (now 10 years old).

This handout is part of the series, “Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions.” It is designed to facilitate discussion about the issues raised in the video, “Kinship Adoption: You Get a Call, ‘Do You Want These Kids?’”

Hear about the challenges and experiences of an adoptive family and how they created belonging, healthy development, and normal experiences.

Review the protective capacities and protective factors frameworks used to assess, intervene, and serve families.