Kinship care. Perceptions of social workers: Lip service or real service

Kinship care has become a growing alternative to regular foster care in North America. The label “kinship care” is relatively recent. The practice of family caring for the children of family members no longer able to care for their children is not. In the past, the need for “out of home” care may have been primarily due to death, illness or poverty. But now, as society becomes more vigilant in its protection of the young, the need for care has expanded beyond the limits of the regular foster care system. Kinship care has taken on a new importance for child protection agencies.;This exploratory study examined social workers' perceptions of the kinship care program as practised at the Department of Social Service in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan. Fourteen social workers completed a questionnaire that queried their perceptions of kinship care, the risk assessments on the potential families, the services offered, the monitoring, the planning, the after care and their own comfort level working with kinship care homes. They were also asked to rate the importance of each area noted above and were asked for comments regarding each of the questions.;A focus group of seven workers was formed to discuss feelings about the subject area covered in the questionnaire and to get personalized information regarding the use of kinship care homes. The focus group provided some unexpected information regarding their feelings regarding payment to kinship care homes. They generally supported the idea of more training and the need for guidelines. These participants want “real service” and not just “lip service” from department officials.