‘Kin-first’ foster care gains ground in North Carolina after state creates incentive
The number of people who took in a juvenile family member was nearly 16 percent higher in 2025 than in 2023, when the state began paying unlicensed kinship caregivers.
The first thing Genevieve Traversy does when she takes in a new foster child is show them where the food is.
“Most children that come into foster care are food insecure. I know I was,” said Traversy, who was in foster care as a child and now works with foster children and families as a social worker for Lutheran Services Carolinas. “I make sure that they know — that’s the food. And I just try to be the parent that I wish I always had.”
Making the child feel comfortable and safe is important, she said.
Traversy spent most of her childhood in and out of foster care. From the time she was a 3-year-old until she aged out at 18, Traversy lived with 16 different families.
The majority of them were strangers. One placement was with what is sometimes called “fictive” kin — nonrelatives who have a close, emotional tie to the child. And two of her foster placements were with family members, something known as kinship care.
“I am a big advocate for kinship [care], because I know how important it is for families to stay together,” Traversy said.
North Carolina has also woken up to the importance of keeping children with relatives as much as possible after a child is removed from a home due to allegations of abuse or neglect. For the past few years, the state has been moving toward a kin-first foster care model.
As part of that change, the state changed long-standing policy and began paying unlicensed kinship caregivers in late 2023. The number of people who took in a juvenile family member increased nearly 16 percent from 2023 to 2025, according to state data analyzed by NC Health News.
National data has shown that keeping children with family members when they come into foster care often provides better outcomes. Their academic performance either stays the same or improves, their cultural identity is preserved and they show better behavioral development and mental health.
