Kinship Care in Oregon: Rights, Certification, and Kinship Navigator Support

Most people who become kinship caregivers in Oregon did not plan to. The phone rings — an ODHS worker, a police officer, sometimes a family member in crisis — and suddenly you are being asked whether a relative's child can come live with you. That is not a research process. It is an emergency.

By late 2025, relative placements had reached 36.1% of all foster placements in Oregon, up from 18.8% in 2022. Oregon's shift toward a "family first" model is real and accelerating. This post covers what you need to know if you are already in — or being asked to step into — a kinship placement.

Emergency Placement Before Certification

When ODHS removes a child and places them with a relative on an emergency basis, you do not need to be certified in advance. Oregon issues a Temporary Certificate of Approval for relatives who agree to an immediate placement while the formal certification process proceeds.

The temporary certificate gets the child into your home safely. It does not get you access to the full financial support available to certified resource parents. That comes through formal relative certification under OAR Division 203, which you begin pursuing as soon as the emergency placement is stable.

Your priority in the first 72 hours is the child — food, clothing, their immediate physical and emotional needs. Your second priority is contacting ODHS to begin the formal certification process so you do not remain on the temporary status longer than necessary.

Oregon's Kinship Navigator Program

The Oregon Kinship Navigator is a free statewide support program specifically for relatives caring for children who are not in the child welfare system — grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, and others who are raising relative children informally or through informal guardianship. Reach them at oregonkinshipnavigator.org.

If the child is in ODHS custody (formally placed with you through the child welfare system), the Kinship Navigator is a supplemental resource, but your primary contacts are the ODHS certifier and the child's assigned caseworker.

The Kinship Navigator provides:

• Navigation assistance to identify financial supports, healthcare, legal information, and community resources
• Connection to peer support from other relative caregivers
• Legal guides explaining the difference between informal kinship care, formal foster certification, and guardianship
• Referrals to legal aid for caregivers who need formal legal standing

Relative Certification Under OAR 413-203

Kinship caregivers who want full access to foster care financial support — the monthly maintenance payments, clothing allowances, and access to the Oregon Health Plan for the child — must complete formal certification under OAR Division 203.

Relative certification follows the same safety standards as non-relative certification under OAR 413-200. The same home inspection, background check requirements, and safety standards apply. What differs is the procedural approach: Division 203 recognizes the existing relationship between the relative and the child and generally allows for an accelerated process when placement is already underway.

Key points about relative certification:

Background checks: All adult household members must still complete Oregon's multi-layer background check: Oregon state criminal history, FBI national fingerprint check, CARIS child abuse registry check, and sex offender registry. The same absolute disqualifiers that apply to non-relatives apply to relatives.

Training: RAFT (Resource and Adoptive Family Training) is mandatory for non-relative applicants and strongly recommended but not identically required for relative caregivers. The specific training requirements for relatives depend on the child's assessed needs and the district. Ask your certifier early which components are required.

Home standards: The physical home inspection requirements are identical to those for non-relative certification. If your home has deficiencies — a missing smoke alarm, a gun safe that hasn't been purchased — they must be corrected whether you are a grandparent or a stranger.

Certificate validity: Unlike non-relative certificates that expire after two years, relative certificates generally do not expire as long as the specific child remains in your home. This is a meaningful practical difference — you are not facing a renewal clock during what is often already a stressful caregiving period.

Your Rights as a Kinship Caregiver

Oregon's Foster Parent Bill of Rights (ORS 418.648) applies to certified kinship caregivers, not just non-relative resource parents. Once you are formally certified under Division 203, you have the statutory right to:

• Be treated with dignity and respect as a valued member of the professional team
• Receive full disclosure of behavioral or medical information about the child before placement whenever possible
• Have 24/7 access to ODHS personnel in emergencies
• Receive notice of and input into case planning, permanency hearings, and court proceedings
• Have your views and concerns considered in any decision that affects the child's placement

The practical implication of these rights is that you have standing in the case — you are not a bystander who simply receives instructions. Document your interactions with caseworkers, attend every team meeting you are invited to, and make your position known in writing when you disagree with case planning decisions.

Financial Support for Certified Kinship Caregivers

Once formally certified, kinship caregivers receive the same monthly maintenance payments as non-relative resource parents — $958 per month for children ages 0–5, $963 for ages 6–12, $1,022 for ages 13–20, plus CANS level-of-care supplements if the child has assessed higher-level needs. The child also receives coverage through the Oregon Health Plan.

Informal kinship caregivers — relatives caring for children outside the ODHS system, without a formal court order — have access to different and generally more limited financial support. The Kinship Navigator can help identify what assistance programs are available in your specific situation.

Navigating the "Relative vs. Adoption" Question

Many kinship caregivers eventually face the question of whether to pursue adoption or legal guardianship once reunification efforts have concluded. For kinship families, adoption terminates the birth parents' parental rights legally, which may affect family dynamics in ways that feel wrong even when reunification has failed. Legal guardianship (through Oregon's juvenile court system) provides legal decision-making authority without the permanency of adoption.

This is a legal and emotional decision that deserves careful consideration and, ideally, a conversation with an attorney familiar with Oregon child welfare law.

For a full guide to the kinship certification process under OAR 413-203, the Temporary Certificate of Approval process, your rights in the ODHS system, and how to access financial support as quickly as possible after an emergency placement, see the Oregon Foster Care Licensing Guide.

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