CA Kin Accelerator Pilot
Through co-design and rapid testing, the California KIN Accelerator Pilot brings together child welfare agencies, lived experts, and community partners to advance kin-first innovation across California.
Child welfare agencies, lived experts, and community-based organizations across eight California counties.
Eight California counties: Alameda, Butte, Kern, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Stanislaus.
Casey Family Programs — strategic partner
To rapidly identify, test, and scale innovations that help build a kin-first culture in child welfare.
Kinship care helps reduce trauma, preserve family and cultural connections, and improve outcomes for children. When children cannot remain with their parents, being cared for by relatives or trusted adults with established relationships can make a lasting difference. California has made kinship care a priority for decades through policy, funding, training, and practice reform. Even so, many counties still face structural barriers that make it difficult to consistently place children with kin and sustain kin-first practices across their systems.
Inspired by approaches from the technology and start-up sectors, the Accelerator combines customized support, peer learning, and rapid-cycle testing to help counties move faster and more effectively toward kin-first systems. The Pilot is grounded in three core principles: centering lived experience, leveraging technology and data, and prioritizing co-design. Counties participate through cohort convenings, expert-led master classes, targeted implementation support, and shared learning opportunities.
January 2025 – June 2027 (anticipated)
