Kinship Population & Family Typology
Population estimation for formal and informal kinship care, with typology analysis of family distribution and service needs.
Kinship care · Child welfare · Systems change
Understanding Systems.
Improving Outcomes.
Kinship Policy Lab partners with organizations, governments, and communities to transform research, policy, and practice into better outcomes for children and families experiencing non-parental care.
About
Understanding Systems.
Kinship Policy Lab was established to help organizations better understand complex systems, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop strategies that improve outcomes for children and families.
Our work is grounded in the understanding that evidence does not automatically become policy, policy does not automatically become practice, and practices that succeed in one setting may produce different results in another.
Effective systems change requires understanding not only what works, but why it works, for whom, under what conditions, and how implementation occurs within complex human systems.
We specialize in kinship care, child welfare, prevention, permanency, and family-support systems — helping organizations navigate the intersection of policy, implementation, service delivery, and organizational strategy.
What We Do
Services
We move organizations beyond simple policy scans toward a deeper understanding of how systems function, where service gaps exist, and where opportunities for growth and impact emerge.
Policy & Regulatory Environment
Analysis of kin-first policies, relative-placement requirements, licensing standards and waivers, and guardianship and permanency pathways.
Kinship Services & Infrastructure
Assessment of Kinship Navigator implementation, evidence status, therapeutic kinship foster care opportunities, existing investments, and service gaps.
Strategic Growth & Opportunity
Comparative analysis and opportunity assessment to identify partnership, government contracting, and philanthropic opportunities for sustainable growth.
Prevention, Permanency & Family Support
Strategy across prevention, permanency, and family-support systems — designed to reflect the real complexity of families' experiences.
Research-to-Practice Translation
Bridging research, policy, implementation, and practice to turn evidence into strategies that organizations can actually put to work.
Our Methodology
A deeper way to read the system.
Our work draws on proprietary frameworks and assessment tools developed specifically for the complexity of kinship and child-welfare systems.
- 01
Kinship family typology frameworks
Because kinship care is not a single population — families experience a wide range of pathways, supports, and policy environments.
- 02
Kinship population estimation methodologies
Rigorous estimation of formal and informal kinship populations to size needs and opportunities.
- 03
State policy & implementation assessment tools
Going beyond policy text to understand how systems actually function in practice.
- 04
Strategic opportunity analysis frameworks
Translating findings into prioritized, actionable opportunities for growth and impact.
- 05
Research-to-practice translation models
Connecting what works to why it works — and how to implement it within real human systems.
Why Kinship Policy Lab
Not a traditional consulting firm.
Lived operational experience
Built from direct experience running kinship programs — not theory alone.
Policy expertise
Deep fluency in the policy and regulatory environment shaping kinship and child welfare.
Implementation science
Understanding why programs succeed, for whom, and under what conditions.
Research methodology
Rigorous methods that ground every recommendation in evidence.
About the Founder
Dr. Ali Caliendo
Founder, Kinship Policy Lab
Dr. Ali Caliendo is a nationally recognized leader in kinship care policy, practice, implementation, and systems change. She is the Founder of Foster Kinship, one of the nation's leading kinship support organizations, and has spent more than fifteen years working at the intersection of child welfare, public policy, program development, implementation, and evaluation.
She serves as Assistant Professor-in-Residence in the Doctor of Public Policy Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where her work focuses on translating evidence into policy and practice, implementation science, public systems, and organizational effectiveness.
Her work has informed state and national conversations on kinship care, child welfare reform, prevention services, permanency, and family-support systems — bridging research, policy, implementation, and practice to help organizations achieve meaningful and sustainable change.
Contact
Let's improve outcomes together.
Tell us about your organization and what you're trying to understand or change. We'll be in touch.