Foster Care and Kinship Families – New Jersey

N.J. foster children placed in homes with relatives more often than in other states, report says, By Megan DeMarco, May 23, 2012, Star-Ledger: “A higher percentage of children in New Jersey’s foster care system are being placed with relatives and close friends than in nearly every other state, a report released today found. About 35 percent of kids in New Jersey foster care are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles or close friends – which child advocates call ‘kinship families,’ according to the Annie E. Casey foundation report. Nationally, 26 percent of kids in foster care were placed in kinship families from 2009 through last year. Only Hawaii, Florida and Arizona place a higher percentage than New Jersey, which was in a three-way tie with Illinois and Michigan…”