Though every team member can play a role in maintaining kin connections, without clear ownership over engaging kin, important steps can fall through the cracks.

Formally dedicate someone on your team to be responsible for identifying and connecting with kin. This creates accountability and helps find placements with kin who can serve as lifelong support for children and youth.

How to do this

Figure out where kin engagement fits in your agency. Determine the right place in your agency for assigning the responsibility of identifying and connecting with kin. A small team may work well when the caseworker is also responsible for engaging kin, while another agency may need a team focused on this effort. If you're unsure, run a pilot to try out multiple arrangements and get feedback from employees.

Map out the process for engaging kin and assign responsibilities. Make sure your process map includes all expected steps. Assign responsibilities and resources correctly, and make sure no steps are skipped during transitions. Ask a variety of employees for their feedback. One team may be happy with the current setup, while another team may be frustrated that they regularly find available kin far into a child's case.

Set up success measures and empower staff. Create metrics for success, like the percentage of initial kin placements out of all placements. Roll out new metrics slowly and with plenty of feedback. Give team members who are responsible for identifying and connecting with kin the ability to make changes in other areas of the agency to support their work.

Make responsibilities official. Update position descriptions, performance reviews, and other materials to make responsibilities clear. If you have a separate team focused on engaging kin, require that they work with the child or youth, the parents, and the caseworker. This work can't be done in isolation or without talking to the child or youth and their parents when available.