Identifying and engaging kin is about more than finding a placement.

Information reviewed September 2026. Laws, policies and service processes can change, so use the linked official source when a current rule matters.

Start by asking who matters to the child.

Good kin-identification practice looks beyond the question of who can provide full-time placement. Relatives, siblings, family friends and cultural or community connections may support the child's identity, relationships, respite, transportation or family history even when they cannot be the primary caregiver.

PEI law already treats family relationships as part of the child's best interests.

Under PEI's Child, Youth and Family Services Act, best-interest factors include the child's relationship with parents, other family members and other significant people, continuity and stability, the child's views and preferences, and cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious heritage.

PEI Child, Youth and Family Services Act

Ask beyond the first list of relatives.

• Maternal relatives and paternal relatives.
• Siblings and half-siblings, including adult siblings and siblings placed elsewhere.
• Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
• Family friends and adults the child identifies as family.
• Former caregivers, coaches, teachers or other safe adults who are significant to the child.
• Mi'kmaq, cultural, linguistic, faith and community connections.

Separate "important connection" from "placement resource."

A relative who cannot safely or practically provide full-time care may still offer respite, transportation, sibling contact, family history, cultural connection, holiday contact or emotional support. Avoid allowing a placement assessment to become the only question asked about that person's relationship with the child.

Children and youth should help identify their own network when appropriate.

Ask age-appropriate questions about who the child trusts, misses, talks about, wants to see and considers family. Do not force a child to rank relatives or choose where to live when that is an adult decision.

See our child and youth voice guide

Document the follow-up.

A useful kin map should show who has been identified, what the relationship is, what role might be possible, whether there are safety questions, who is responsible for follow-up and what happened next.

Do not use internet searching as a substitute for professional privacy and safety rules.

Formal child-welfare kin-finding can involve records, databases and other investigative tools. Community organizations and caregivers should not attempt to replicate protected agency processes or publicly expose private information about a child.