Moving forward with lessons from the past: An examination of kinship foster care in the Yukon.

This descriptive case study incorporates mixed methods data collection and data analysis strategies. The study reports on the extent to which kinship foster care is used in the Yukon Territory as an alternative to regular foster family care, the characteristics of kinship foster caregivers in regards to ethnicity and geographic location, and the characteristics of children in kinship foster care with respect to ethnicity, residency, age, sex, child welfare legal status, and the nature of the relationship between the child and the kinship foster caregiver. The study also examines factors that influence the decisions of child welfare professional staff to consider the option of kinship foster care and factors impacting relatives who provide this service for a child welfare agency.--P. ii.