Barriers and facilitators to kinship care in Texas: A Multi-Stakeholder, mixed methods perspective

Background: Kinship caregivers are often considered the preferred placement for children in foster care. Children placed with kinship caregivers tend to have better emotional and behavioral health outcomes than children placed in other settings. Despite this, kinship caregivers receive limited resources to help provide for the children in their care. Methods: This study utilized focus groups, interviews, and an online survey to obtain a mixed methods perspective of needs and resources available to kinship caregivers from a multitude of stakeholder groups. Stakeholder groups included were kinship caregivers, healthcare providers, child welfare advocates, and child-placing agency staff. Focus group and interview transcriptions were coded using a mixed deductive-inductive approach to identify salient themes. Survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Areas of convergence and divergence between quantitative and qualitative findings were identified and discussed. Triangulation was used to integrate complementary qualitative and quantitative data. Results: Four salient overarching themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Navigating Personal and Family Challenges, 2) Personal Facilitating Supports and Resources, 3) Systemic Barriers, and 4) Systemic Facilitators, each comprising multiple sub-themes. Conclusion: Kinship caregivers face numerous barriers to providing care for children placed with them and limited facilitators to help ensure successful placements. Although the needs of kinship caregivers are being examined and prioritized in the legislature, operational and policy-level interventions are needed. Results from this study allow for interventions tailored to the needs of kinship caregivers in the State of Texas as identified by a multitude of stakeholder groups.