General Written Resources

Introductory Resources:

• Permanency FAQ's

NIPFC Written Resources:

• What is Family Network Building? (November 2025)

• Quality Relative Internet Searches  

• Defining Due Diligence  

• Family Finding & Engagement

• Demystifying Due Diligence

• Suggested Opportunities and Questions to Gather Additional Information to Build the Network of Support

• BENCHCARD: Disposition Hearing (rev. April 2024)

• BENCHCARD: Detention Hearing & Questions to Ask about Kin (rev. April 2024)

General Resources: 

• Our Responsibilities to Change the Course of Events for Children Through Family Finding  

• Finding Family Connections for Foster Youth  

• A Call for Radical Change  

• Family Connections Hawai'i Final Report   

• Who Cares for Children? A Descriptive Study of Care-Related Data  

• Family Connections Oregon Final Report  

• How to improve Outcomes for Abused and Neglected Children: Engaging Relatives Early  

• Kinship/Relative Adoption Information  

• Additional Helpful Training Curricula

• We All Have a Role: Building Social Capital Among Youth in Care

• Unlocking "Reasonable Efforts" – Kinship is Key

• Maintaining Family Relationships for Children in the Child Welfare System

• A Promising Approach to Increasing Family Adoptions: Initiating Family-Finding Techniques at the Onset of Child Welfare Involvement

• Connected by 25: A Plan for Investing in the Social, Emotional and Physical Well-Being of Older Youth in Foster Care

• Reunification of Foster Children with their Families: The First Permanency Outcome

• Family Finding Conference in York, PA (video filmed by the Children's Home Society of NC)

• The Lifelong Connections Initiative

• Model Courts Respond to Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Youth of Color in Dependency Courts

• The New Zealand Family Group Conference Confidentiality Protections: Lessons Learned and an Application in U.S Child Welfare Systems

Child Trends Articles: Research briefs on a multi-site evaluation of Family Finding processes and outcomes

• Family Finding Evaluations: A Summary of Recent Findings

• Voices from the Field: Stakeholder Perspectives on Family Finding

• Client Voices: Youth, Parent, and Relative Perspectives on Family Finding

• Family Finding: Does Implementation Differ When Serving Different Child Welfare Populations? 

• Piecing Together the Puzzle: Tips and Techniques for Effective Discovery in Family Finding 

• Bringing Family to the Table: Tips and Techniques for Effective Family Engagement 

Research & Program Evaluations:

• Family Connections Hawai'i Final Report

• Family Connections Demonstration Project: Final Progress Report

• Family Connections Demonstration Project: Supplemental Evaluation Report

International Resources:

• Family Finding: Necessary Services in Mexico and Central America

• Expanded Options for Permanency: International Family Finding for U.S. Children in the NJ Foster Care System -Executive Summary

• Salvation Army of Canada's Family Tracing Service