Kinship Care in New Brunswick: How It Works and Who Qualifies

When a child in New Brunswick can no longer safely live with their parents, the Department of Social Development does not immediately place them with an unknown foster family. Under the Child and Youth Well-Being Act (2024), the law now explicitly prioritizes keeping the child within their existing network of relationships — grandparents, aunts and uncles, older siblings, close family friends, even a teacher or neighbour with a meaningful existing relationship.

This is kinship care. If a child is being removed from your family member or close friend's home, you may be contacted by DSD before anyone else.

What Makes Someone a Kinship Caregiver

New Brunswick uses the term "kinship" broadly. You don't need to be a biological relative to be considered. DSD uses the concept of "fictive kin" — people who have a genuine, established relationship with the child even without a blood connection.

In practice, kinship applicants typically fall into one of these categories:

• Grandparents
• Aunts and uncles
• Adult siblings
• Godparents
• Family friends with a sustained relationship with the child (a coach, a family neighbour, a former teacher)
• The parent's former partner who has been a parental figure

What matters is the quality of the existing relationship with the child, not the legal category.

Why Kinship Is Prioritized

The Child and Youth Well-Being Act codifies what child welfare research has consistently shown: children placed with people they already know experience better outcomes. The continuity of familiar relationships, cultural connections, and existing attachments reduces the severity of the trauma associated with removal from the birth home.

For First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children in particular, kinship placement has additional legal weight. Under Bill C-92 and the Child and Youth Well-Being Act, cultural continuity is a legal obligation, not a preference. Placing an Indigenous child with a relative or community member from the same background preserves that continuity in a way a traditional foster placement cannot.

The "least intrusive intervention" principle embedded in the new Act means DSD must consider kinship options before proceeding to traditional foster care whenever it is safe to do so.

The Kinship Care Application Process

Kinship caregivers do not go through the standard PRIDE training pipeline that applies to traditional foster parent applicants. The process is structured differently because kinship placements often happen quickly — sometimes within hours of a removal — and a pre-existing relationship with the child already exists.

That said, kinship applicants still undergo assessment. DSD conducts a home safety review, background checks, and an evaluation of the kinship applicant's capacity to provide care. The depth of that assessment depends on the circumstances and urgency of the placement.

Background checks — The Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) and the internal DSD Social Development Record Check are still required for kinship caregivers. Every adult living in the home must clear both checks. The VSC is the specialized criminal record check conducted through the RCMP or local police. The DSD Record Check searches the department's internal databases for any prior involvement in child protection investigations.

Home safety — The physical home must meet basic safety requirements, though the timeline for assessing these may be compressed in an emergency kinship placement. If there are minor safety issues, DSD may allow a temporary placement to proceed while those issues are resolved.

Financial support — Kinship caregivers receive financial support from DSD to cover the costs of caring for the child. The rate structure is similar to traditional foster care, with a daily maintenance rate and potential Special Needs Assessment enhancements. The financial support is not automatic — it requires a formal arrangement with DSD.

Emergency vs. Planned Kinship Placements

There are two distinct scenarios:

Emergency kinship placement — DSD removes a child and needs to place them immediately. If you're identified as a potential kinship caregiver, DSD may contact you with very short notice. In this scenario, the formal assessment process runs in parallel with the placement rather than before it. You may be asked to take the child home that day while paperwork and background checks are completed.

Planned kinship placement — In cases where a removal is anticipated (for example, where a parent is hospitalized, incarcerated, or in a treatment program), DSD may work with identified family members in advance. This allows a more orderly assessment process before the child transitions.

Both pathways lead to a formal kinship care arrangement if the assessment is cleared. The difference is the order of operations.

What Kinship Care Is Not

Kinship care through DSD is a formal arrangement. It's distinct from informal "family helping family" situations where a grandparent or aunt takes a child in without any DSD involvement.

Informal arrangements have no financial support from DSD and offer no legal protections if the birth parent later wants to remove the child. If you're in an informal arrangement and the child is experiencing ongoing instability, it may be worth contacting DSD to formalize the placement. A formal kinship arrangement gives you standing in decisions about the child's care and access to financial support.

Kinship Care and the Path to Permanency

Kinship care, like traditional foster care, is legally understood as temporary. The Department's first goal is reunification with the birth parents. If reunification is not possible, the permanency options include:

• Long-term kinship care (continuing the arrangement on a more stable, ongoing basis)
• Guardianship (which gives the kinship caregiver legal decision-making authority without full adoption)
• Adoption by the kinship caregiver

Kinship caregivers who wish to pursue adoption of the child in their care follow the process governed by the Adoption Regulation (2024-5) under the Child and Youth Well-Being Act.

Support for Kinship Caregivers

Kinship caregivers are eligible for support through the NB Foster Family Association (NBFFA), which runs the Foster Assistance and Support Teams (F.A.S.T.). These peer support teams include experienced foster and kinship families who can provide practical guidance on navigating the DSD system.

The NB Adoption Foundation also provides resources specifically for kinship families, particularly for those exploring permanency pathways. The foundation's programs include support groups, educational resources, and connections to legal and financial guidance.

If you've been contacted by DSD about taking in a relative's child and you're trying to understand what the process involves — what they'll be looking for in your home, what financial support is available, and what your rights and responsibilities are — the New Brunswick Foster Care Guide covers both the traditional foster care application and the kinship care pathway, including how they overlap and where they diverge.

A Note on Jordan's Principle

For kinship caregivers looking after a First Nations child, Jordan's Principle may be relevant. Jordan's Principle is a federal policy that ensures First Nations children can access all government-funded services on an equitable basis. If there is a dispute between provincial and federal governments over which level of government should pay for a specific service the child needs, the service must be provided first, with the jurisdictional dispute resolved afterward.

In New Brunswick, the Department of Social Development is the point of contact for Jordan's Principle applications related to children in care. If you're a kinship caregiver for an Indigenous child who requires specialized services, your DSD social worker can initiate a Jordan's Principle request.

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