What is kinship care?

Kinship care, or family caring for family, is a natural, out-of-home placement option for children that successfully meets their need for safety, permanency and well-being. 

Impact

Better Outcomes for Children

Children in care have already experienced the trauma of being removed from their homes and families. Placing them with strangers only compounds that trauma. Placing them in the homes of relatives or fictive kin reduces the chance for further trauma, while at the same time maintains their connection to their communities and cultures.

Model

A Value for Family

As the only agency in the country that exclusively delivers services to the entire kinship triad (child, caregiver and birth family), our approach is pure kinship. We provide strengths-based, trauma-informed, culturally competent kinship care services that support stability and continuity and maintain a child's cultural identity and contact with their birth family.

Values

What Is Important to Us?

ASCI values diversity, equity and inclusion. We show our kinship families and birth families respect and help them maintain their dignity. We are honest and transparent. And we always consider the culture of those with whom we interact, responding sensitively and respectfully based on their beliefs, practices and needs.

How We Have Helped


ASCI has served approximately 31,000 children, 10,000 kinship caregivers and 30,000 birth parents since its founding.

Reunification

70% of our children reach reunification within the first year of service.

70%

Education

98% of our youth graduate high school, compared to the national average of 50%.

98%

Adoption

78% of our children have closed to adoption.

78%
ASCI Events
You’re Invited: Celebrate the Achievements of Sankofa Cohort #4

Black Administrators in Child Welfare (BACW), in partnership with A Second Chance, Inc. (ASCI), warmly invites you to join us as we celebrate the Sankofa Institute Capstone and Graduation Ceremonies…

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Keep Your Home Warm This Winter: LIHEAP Applications Are Now Open!

Winter is here, and for families in care, keeping your home warm and safe is essential. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is now accepting applications to help families…

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Coats and Toys for Kids Day: Spreading Warmth to Youth in Care

Coats and Toys for Kids Day, held on December 3, is a beautiful reminder that every child deserves warmth, comfort, and joy—especially youth in care who are navigating major transitions…

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Giving Thanks: A Message from Dr. Sharon L. McDaniel
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