Kinship Care in Nova Scotia: Requirements, Process, and What to Expect

When a child cannot safely remain with their parents, the first question DCS asks is not "do we have a foster home available?" It is "is there someone in this child's life who can take them?" Kinship care — placement with a relative or a person already significant to the child — is the preferred option under Nova Scotia's Children and Family Services Act, and the system is specifically designed to prioritize it.

If DCS has contacted you about caring for a child you know, or if you are a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or family friend who wants to step in, here is what the process looks like.

What Kinship Care Is

Kinship care in Nova Scotia is a formal foster placement with someone who has an existing relationship to the child. That relationship can be:

• A biological relative: grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, cousins
• A "person of significance": a close family friend, a neighbour who has been part of the child's life, a mentor, a former teacher

The child remains in the legal care of the Minister of Community Services. You, as the kinship caregiver, become a licensed foster parent for that child. You receive the same per diem as regular foster parents and are subject to the same licensing requirements — but the assessment process takes into account the existing relationship and the child's connection to your home.

Emergency Kinship Placements

In many cases, kinship care begins as an emergency. A child is apprehended or needs to leave their home quickly, and DCS contacts you directly because you are already known to the child and family.

In these situations, DCS may place the child with you provisionally before the formal assessment is complete. This is a temporary arrangement that allows the child to remain with someone familiar while the licensing process proceeds. You will not receive the per diem until the placement is formally approved, but DCS will work to expedite the assessment given the circumstances.

If you receive this kind of call from DCS, say yes or no based on whether you can genuinely care for the child — not based on worry about the paperwork. The paperwork follows the placement in emergency cases.

The Kinship Assessment

The assessment for kinship caregivers is similar to the standard home study but is specifically tailored to the relationship between you and the child. The social worker's questions will focus on:

Your relationship with the child and their family. How long have you known the child? What is your relationship to their parents? If there is conflict between you and the child's parents, how will you manage that while supporting the child's contact with them?

Your understanding of why the child is in care. Kinship caregivers are sometimes reluctant to acknowledge the full seriousness of the situation that led to the child's removal. The assessment examines whether you can maintain appropriate boundaries — specifically, whether you can keep the child safe while the birth parents work toward reunification.

Your capacity to provide full-time care. Do you have the time, energy, financial means, and household space? If you are a grandparent who is retired or semi-retired, DCS will consider your health, the demands of caring for young children, and whether your current living situation can accommodate the child's needs.

Home safety. The same physical standards apply to kinship homes as to regular foster homes: bedroom size, smoke detectors, locked storage, egress windows. Your home will be inspected.

The SAFE Assessment in Kinship Cases

Nova Scotia uses the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) model for all home studies, including kinship. In kinship cases, the SAFE assessment is modified to weight the existing relationship heavily — a grandparent who has been a central figure in a child's life is assessed very differently from a stranger.

That said, the safety standards are not reduced. A kinship home that does not meet the physical requirements, or a kinship caregiver who has a substantiated child welfare finding or a disqualifying criminal record, will not be approved regardless of the relationship.

Training Requirements

Kinship caregivers complete PRIDE training, the same nine-session pre-service program required of all foster parents in Nova Scotia. This is not waived because of the existing relationship. DCS recognises that even experienced relatives often need preparation for the specific challenges of caring for a child who has experienced trauma or who is in an uncertain legal situation.

Some kinship placements involve children with very complex needs. In those cases, additional training in trauma-informed care or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) may be required before placement is confirmed.

Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) training must be completed within one year of the first placement, as with all Nova Scotia foster parents.

Financial Support for Kinship Caregivers

Kinship caregivers receive the same per diem as standard foster parents:

• $19.00 per day for children aged 0 to 9
• $27.50 per day for children aged 10 and over

The same allowances apply: $200 placement allowance at the start, $400 Christmas allowance annually, mileage reimbursement at $50/month plus $0.5932/km for approved travel, and babysitting reimbursement at $10.60/hour.

Kinship caregivers sometimes assume they will receive less support than "regular" foster parents. That is not the case under provincial policy — the financial framework is identical.

Mi'kmaw Kinship Care

For Mi'kmaw children, Mi'kmaw Family and Children's Services (MFCS) operates a kinship care program grounded in Mi'kmaw cultural values. MFCS uses a "Customary Care" model that recognises the extended family networks of Mi'kmaw communities as a core protective resource. If you are Mi'kmaw and are caring for a child from your community, contact MFCS directly at 1-800-263-8686 (mainland) or 1-800-263-8300 (Cape Breton).

When Kinship Care Becomes Long-Term

If a child in your kinship placement cannot be reunified with their birth parents, DCS will pursue permanency planning. For kinship caregivers, this often means the possibility of becoming the child's legal guardian or pursuing adoption. Nova Scotia's CFSA allows for crown wardship to be transferred to kinship families in certain circumstances.

If you entered a kinship placement expecting it to be short-term and it has extended beyond six months, raise the question of permanency directly with your placement social worker. The earlier you engage with the long-term planning, the more options you have.

The Nova Scotia Foster Care Guide includes a dedicated section on kinship care, covering the specific differences in the assessment process, how to navigate the family dynamics that come with caring for a relative's child, and what happens when short-term kinship placements become permanent.

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