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?

As a nationally recognized leader in kinship care services, A Second Chance, Inc., is dedicated to upholding the highest professional standards. In the service of children, we respect the families and communities we serve, as well as our own staff. This has been a priority since our inception.

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 Youth
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Supporting Youth Through Anxiety

Anxiety isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it looks like overthinking, staying quiet, getting irritated easily, struggling to sleep, or feeling overwhelmed by things other people may not notice. For youth in…

Read More about [title]
ASCI Youth
Boosting Your Self-Esteem: A Reminder That You Matter

Self-esteem isn’t something you either “have” or “don’t have.” It’s something you build. Slowly. On purpose. Some days it feels strong, other days it feels shaky, and that’s normal. For…

Read More about [title]
Education
The Imprint Weekly Podcast: Fashioning a Forward Experience for Foster Youth

The Imprint Weekly Podcast recently featured a powerful conversation with ASCI’s President, Founder, and CEO, Dr. Sharon McDaniel, and the Founder and CEO of Think of Us, Sixto Cancel, on…

Read More about [title]
Education
ASCI Celebrates Dr. Ervin Dyer As A Pennsylvania Humanities “Window Keeper”

At ASCI, we believe storytelling has the power to preserve history, strengthen communities, and create lasting connections across generations. That is why we are proud to recognize Dr. Ervin Dyer…

Read More about [title]