Alongside its prevention reforms, Family First expanded federal support for kin caregivers—relatives and close family connections who care for children when they can’t remain safely with their parents.

Family First advanced this goal by creating the Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Program, offering federal investment in evidence-based models to help kin caregivers access resources and support.

This policy is not yet scaling broadly, for what appear to be barriers inherent in the policy construction.

Kinship Care in Context

When a child cannot remain safely with their parents, federal and state policies prioritize placement with relatives or other trusted adults—a practice known as kinship care. Research shows that children in kinship care experience greater placement stability, stronger family connections, and better behavioral and mental health outcomes compared to those placed with non-relatives or in congregate care settings. (Children’s Bureau. (2021). Kinship caregivers and the child welfare system. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/kinship.pdf).

Today, an estimated 2.5 million (The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2023). Children in kinship care in the United States, 2022–2024. KIDS COUNT® Data Center. PRB analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement. https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/10455-children-in-kinship-care?loc=1&loct=1#detailed/2/2-2/false/2638/any/20160,20161) children in the U.S. live in kinship care arrangements. However, only about 130,000 of those children are formally in foster care. Most kin caregivers support children informally, without formal case oversight or child welfare system involvement.

Kinship Navigator Programs can serve all kinship families, regardless of whether or not they are formally involved with the child welfare system. For a Kinship Navigator Program supported by Family First to serve families without formal system involvement, however, it must operate a model specifically approved to do so.

What Kinship Navigator Programs Do

Kinship Navigator Programs help caregivers connect to essential community supports, including:

Basic Needs (nutrition assistance, clothing, beds, and school supplies);
Education (navigating school enrollment, services, and special education supports);
Physical and Mental Health (Medicaid or CHIP enrollment, locating providers, and coordinating services);
Legal Resources (understanding guardianship options and legal rights); and
Social Support (linking to community networks and peer support groups).

By facilitating access to these services, Kinship Navigator Programs strengthen caregivers’ capacity to provide stable, nurturing care.

How Family First Supports Kinship Navigator Programs

Under Family First, states and tribes may claim permanent, uncapped federal matching funds for 50% reimbursement for eligible Kinship Navigator Programs and related aministradtive costs.

Participation requires federal approval; states must submit an amendment to their Title IV-E plan and use programs approved by the Title IV-E Clearinghouse.

Importantly, there are no income eligibility requirements for caregivers to receive Kinship Navigator Program services. This offers expanded federal investment through effective system redesign.

In parallel, Congress has appropriated annual funding under Title IV-B to support the development, enhancement, and evaluation of Kinship Navigator Programs. Beginning in FY2026, this funding will shift from formula grants to multi-year competitive grants.

Current Status and Participation

While all states currently operate Kinship Navigator Programs in some form, most are funded through discretionary Title IV-B and other funding outside of Family First.

Despite early bipartisan lawmaker enthusiasm in enacting this policy, participation in the Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Program option remains limited:

As of 2025, the Clearinghouse has approved seven programs for Title IV-E reimbursement.
Only eleven states and Puerto Rico have received approval to operate Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Programs (CO, IA, MD, MN, NE, NV, OH, PR, SC, UT, VA, and WA).
Just four states are currently claiming federal funds through this mechanism (CO, MN, OH, and UT).

Estimated federal claims for FY2024 are expected to total approximately $20.8 million.

The other comparable funding mechanism totals $9.5 million in Title IV-B for 65 states, territories, and tribes.

Barriers to Broader Rollout

These limits reflect policy barriers that warrant further deliberation on where to go next. These barriers include:

Evidence Base: To claim Title IV-E funds, programs must be rated as “well-supported,” “supported,” or “promising” by the Clearinghouse.
- Many existing state models have not yet met this threshold.
- Of 11 programs reviewed, seven received eligible ratings.
- These programs are measured on longer-term outcomes, despite their primary focus being on timely short-term connection to appropriate services, a likely mismatch.
- The use of control groups and sufficiently large study sample sizes can also be an impediment to study eligibility for the Clearinghouse.

Development Cycle: Building, testing, and validating evidence-based models requires sustained investment.
Administrative Complexity: Navigating theTitle IV-E plan amendment process and sustaining compliance adds operational challenges, particularly for resource-constrained jurisdictions.