Understanding birthparent involvement in kinship families: Influencing factors and the importance of placement arrangement

Birthparent involvement within informal and formal kinship families is examined using cross-sectional data from a National Institute on Aging funded survey of 351 custodial grandmothers. Specifically the research addressed two questions: What are the patterns of parental involvement in kinship families? What contextual and family factors are related to parental involvement in kinship families? Using cluster analysis, three distinct subgroups of birthparents were identified: those with high involvement (30%); moderate involvement (35%), and low birthparent involvement (35%). Study results indicated that birthparents were twice as likely to be in the high involvement subgroup compared to the moderate and low subgroups if there was an informal kinship arrangement; and they were 39% more likely when there was a closer relationship between the grandmother and birthparent. Implications for professionals working to improve this relationship when possible are discussed.