Agency responsibilities are often split between staff who engage with potential caregivers, others who access background check files, and those who can make approvals, sometimes with only one person who can make final decisions.

Speed up decision-making by creating consistent, case-by-case review standards that can reduce bottlenecks, limit bias, and let multiple staff members make decisions.

How to do this

Design a kin approval process that works for your agency. Avoid delays when staff are absent by allowing multiple staff members to make approval decisions. Consider a daily decision committee that can make decisions quickly, and set goal for reviewing cases quickly. Make sure these staff members have direct access to background check results.

Be clear about what not to include. Don’t count expunged crimes, even if they still show up in a background report. And remove outdated automatic disqualifiers for potential kin caregivers that go beyond federal requirements, such as drug tests or vehicle insurance checks. In some states, old technology and data migrations have caused people who were victims of abuse or neglect to get listed as offenders by mistake. If this happens in your state, have clear guidance on how to tell the difference, with a plan for correction.

Discuss results with kin. If a prior criminal conviction comes up in your review, consider factors like the type of crime, the person’s age when it happened, and how much time has passed since. Talk about these results with caregivers and other adults in the home to assess the current risk. Unless you have specific evidence of a current safety risk, the results of an abuse and neglect background check should not prevent approval.

Ask the court to reconsider kin who’ve been disqualified. If you think a potential kin caregiver is the best fit for a youth, but you have to disqualify them due to rules beyond your agency’s control, send the case to court for review. This is sometimes called giving “daylight” to the evaluation process. Pay full foster care maintenance payments from agency funds for court-ordered placements that don’t qualify for federal reimbursement.

Give clear written reasons for denial and let kin caregivers appeal. If an appeals process doesn’t exist, create one. Use denial and appeal letter templates that have been tested with caregivers for clarity.

This strategy in action

California has a guide for assessing background checks.

Utah has a decision committee that meets daily for fast decisions without bottlenecks.

Oklahoma fingerprints their staff so they are authorized to view results.

Iowa asks caregivers with histories of abuse, neglect, and criminal convictions what changes they’ve made to become safe to work around others, including their work history, counseling, parenting classes, and other experiences.

All jurisdictions can use the kin licensing forms that include a template to evaluate criminal history and a template to explain denials and how to appeal them.

Resources