Answer: The term “kinship care” is used in many different ways, so it depends on the nature of the placement. If a child welfare agency places a child in kinship care, the child is considered to be in foster care, and would not be McKinney-Vento eligible (but would be eligible for ESSA’s protections for children in foster care). However, the way you describe this “kinship care” document, it sounds like a power of attorney a parent might sign over to another person who is caring for their child temporarily. In that case, the document itself isn’t the issue—the question would be whether the parent or child lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. If the parent is homeless and is placing her child with someone else, the child would be McKinney-Vento eligible. If the kinship care arrangement itself is a homeless situation, the child would be McKinney-Vento eligible.
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