The Effectiveness of Kinship Services with Children Exposed to Partner Violence: Exploring a Dual Victim Treatment Approach

This research presents kinship services as a dual victim treatment approach when serving children and their mothers in child welfare cases characterized by partner violence. The study examined the outcomes for children exposed to partner violence who were placed in either kinship or traditional foster care through a child welfare agency. Outcomes were understood through measures of the adjustment of children while in care, reunification with their birth parent(s), permanency and stability, and factors contributing to the development and maintenance of attachment. The findings indicate that children in kinship care demonstrate significantly more positive overall adjustment, greater permanency and stability, and higher reunification rates. Implications to service providers, particularly child welfare workers and partner violence practitioners, are discussed.