Over 2.4 million children in the United States are in living in kinship care arrangements, in which they are cared for full time by relatives or other adults with whom they have a close relationship (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2025a). Around 60,000 of those children reside in South Carolina, representing 5 percent of all children in the state (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2025b). Research tells us that kinship care promotes a sense of belonging, preserves cultural connections, helps children maintain relationships with siblings, improves behavioral and mental health outcomes, strengthens academic performance, and reduces harm associated with childhood trauma (Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network, 2024; Winokur et al., 2018). However, kinship caregivers often lack support in managing the complexities of raising a relative child, particularly on short notice. Kinship navigator programs support kinship caregivers by providing essential resources, information, and referrals, and several navigator models have been proven to have positive impacts on child and caregiver well-being, caregiver emotional and mental health, and family functioning (Fowler et al., 2023; The Children’s Home, Inc., 2016).
This report presents findings from a rigorous evaluation of the kinship navigator services provided by HALOS, a nonprofit organization that serves kinship caregivers in South Carolina (see text box), from May 2022 to March 2024. The evaluation included both an outcomes study to assess the program’s efficacy, as well as a complementary process study to assess how the model was implemented and to evaluate provider and caregiver satisfaction and feedback on program delivery and participation. The outcome study compared the knowledge, skills, and functioning of caregivers who participated in kinship navigator services at HALOS (treatment group) to those of caregivers who did not (comparison group). We employed a quasi-experimental design using propensity score matching to create a sample of treatment and comparison caregivers matched on personal characteristics (e.g., demographics, baseline scores on outcome measures), allowing us to assess the effectiveness of HALOS’ kinship navigator services. The process study tracked the number and type of referrals caregivers received and included interviews and focus groups with staff who implement the HALOS program, as well as caregivers enrolled in the evaluation.
Overview of the HALOS model
The HALOS kinship navigator model employs Family Advocates who connect kinship caregivers with supportive services tailored to the family’s individual needs. Family Advocates conduct needs assessments and provide caregiver education and support, as well as referrals for resources and services, such as concrete or economic needs, benefit counseling, educational or child welfare case advocacy, and more. The HALOS model involves at a minimum three interactions between the caregiver and Family Advocate: 1) at the initiation of services (i.e., intake), 2) two weeks after intake, and 3) three months after intake.
We should note that, in August 2024, HALOS transitioned to a new kinship navigator model (Foster Kinship Navigator Program). However, the implementation of the new model began after the last enrolled caregiver in the treatment group completed services and did not overlap with the execution or influence the results of this study.
Key findings
Below is a summary of the key findings from our evaluation about program implementation and effectiveness, as well as caregiver satisfaction. For more details, please see the full report.
- When compared to caregivers who did not participate in HALOS services, those who did participate in HALOS demonstrated larger increases in their knowledge of available services and how to access them. This means that participation in HALOS kinship navigator services resulted in increased skill acquisition related to navigating complex services and support systems.
- Caregivers were highly satisfied with HALOS services and felt supported, heard, and cared for in their interactions with HALOS staff.
- The two most common sources of referrals to HALOS were the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS; 33% of referrals) and word-of-mouth through family, friends, or neighbors (12%). This finding highlights the importance of HALOS’ partnerships with SCDSS and informal networks for connecting families to services.
- The top three types of referrals made by Family Advocates were related to meeting concrete or economic needs: clothing (37% of caregivers), housing/furniture (11%), and financial assistance (9%). Caregivers reported that receiving support from HALOS to meet their concrete needs was a unique and significant benefit of the program. Family Advocates shared that helping caregivers with concrete needs is also a way to build rapport and trust with clients, enhancing caregiver engagement in HALOS services while also meeting their immediate needs.
- In a supplementary analysis of caregivers who participated in HALOS, we found that program benefits and level of engagement with the program varied by caregiver characteristics (e.g., type of care arrangement, caregiver race/ethnicity, and caregiver level of education).
HALOS Kinship Navigation Services and Outcomes
To learn more about the services HALOS provides and the evaluation, watch the video we created.
Recommendations
Based on our work with HALOS and the findings from this evaluation, below are select recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and reach of the HALOS program, address observed challenges, and ensure that the needs of caregivers and families are met.
- Continue to embrace the provision of concrete and economic supports and explore funding or other partnership and policy opportunities to bolster and expand this aspect of kinship navigation.
- Revisit and refine the HALOS program logic model to more clearly delineate short- and long-term outcomes; consider adding outcomes that measure whether caregivers go on to access available services.
- Provide additional professional development opportunities to further cultivate relationship-building skills among HALOS staff.
- Consider caregiver-driven marketing approaches and campaigns that engage trusted channels in the community (e.g., schools, churches, libraries) to promote HALOS services.
Conclusion
The findings from our evaluation demonstrate that HALOS is successful at achieving the outcomes most proximal to the services they provide: connecting caregivers with needed services and supporting and educating them in accessing those services. We encourage HALOS and other service providers across South Carolina to apply the learnings from our evaluation as they expand kinship navigator and other supportive services for kinship caregivers across the state.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to current and former HALOS staff for their contributions to the evaluation. In particular, we would like to thank:
- Rebecca Carrell (Sr. Research Specialist), the on-site research coordinator without whom this evaluation would not have been possible.
- Jed Dews (Executive Director) and Amanda Jones (Director of Quality Improvement) for being thought partners on the evaluation.
- JR Carter (Quality Specialist), Brennyn Colombo (Kinship Navigation Manager), Robert Ellington (Sr. Family Advocate), Ashley Grimball (Outreach and Supportive Services Manager), and Kiki Todman (Family Advocate) for assisting with data collection and reporting.
- Kim Clifton (former Executive Director) and Khalilah Sumners (former Director of Programs) for their support planning and implementing the evaluation.
We also want to thank The Duke Endowment for their financial support of this evaluation. We acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these organizations.
Suggested Citation
Williams, S.C., Vivrette, R., Maxfield, E., & Mukhopadhyay, S. (2025). HALOS kinship navigator program: final evaluation report. Child Trends. DOI: 10.56417/5713y2299y
References
KIDS COUNT Data Center. (2025a). Children in kinship care in the United States. https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/10455-children-in-kinship-care?loc=1&loct=1#detailed/1/any/false/2638,2554,2479,2097,1985,1757/any/20160,20161
KIDS COUNT Data Center. (2025b). Children in kinship care in South Carolina. https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/10455-children-in-kinship-care?loc=1&loct=1#detailed/2/42/false/2638,2554,2479,2097,1985,1757/any/20160,20161
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network. (2024). 6 great things about kinship/grandfamilies. https://www.gksnetwork.org/resources/6-great-things-about-kinship-grandfamilies/
Winokur, M. A., Holtan, A., & Batchelder, K. E. (2018). Systematic review of kinship care effects on safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes. Research on Social Work Practice, 28(1), 19-32.
Fowler, J., Day, A., Wollen, S., & Vanderwill, L. (2023). Washington State Kinship Navigator pilot evaluation results: Six months post. Partners for Our Children, Washington State Department of Social & Health Services, University of Washington School of Social Work, & Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families. https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ALTSA/hcs/documents/kinship/WA
%20Kinship%20Navigator%206mo%20Clearinghouse%20Report.pdf
The Children's Home, Inc. (2016). CHI Child Welfare/TANF Kinship Interdisciplinary Navigation Technologically-Advanced Model (KIN-Tech) - Final Report (Grant 90CF0050). https://cwlibrary.childwelfare.gov/discovery/delivery/01CWIG_INST:01CWIG/1218543890007651