This chapter establishes the requirements, rights, and responsibilities of kinship caregivers and local departments. The primary purposes of these regulations are to: Prioritize and support the placement of children in care with relatives, kin, or other individuals who have a close relationship to a child in care or the child in care’s family; Establish standards to license and compensate kinship caregivers for children in care; Establish a standard that local departments place children in care with kinship caregivers who will provide the children in care with safe, nurturing, and trauma-informed environments where their connections with family are supported and maintained; Reduce placement disruptions through well-supported kinship care; and Provide a structured framework for kinship caregivers to collaborate in parenting the child in care, offer mentorship to the child in care's parents or guardians, and actively participate in the reunification and permanency planning process.