Emergency Kinship Placement in New Jersey — What Happens When DCPP Calls

When CP&P Places a Child With You

Emergency kinship placement happens when CP&P (the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, formerly DYFS) removes a child from a parent's care and immediately places the child with a relative rather than a stranger foster home. Under New Jersey's kin-first policy, established by P.L. 2021 c. 154, the agency must consider relatives and family friends before any non-relative placement.

This usually starts with a phone call — often late at night or over a weekend. A caseworker tells you that your grandchild, niece, nephew, or cousin has been removed from the home and asks whether you can take the child right now. The decision is immediate, and there's rarely time to prepare.

What Happens in the First Days

The initial placement is temporary. If the placement continues, CP&P may ask you to pursue licensing as a kinship resource family home. Licensing involves background checks, home inspections, and training.

The caseworker opens a case and assigns a permanency plan. You may be asked for basic identifying information, your relationship to the child, and household information needed for placement and licensing checks.

During this period, CP&P holds legal custody of the child. You have day-to-day physical care, but the agency controls decisions about the child's services, visits with parents, and long-term placement.

How Long Emergency Placement Lasts

Emergency placement doesn't have a fixed expiration date. The duration depends on what happens with the case:

• If reunification happens quickly (parents address the safety concerns), the child returns home and your temporary caregiving ends.
• If the case continues, CP&P will ask you to pursue licensing as a kinship resource family home so the placement can be formalized. Licensing involves background checks, home inspections, and training.
• If reunification and adoption aren't appropriate, Kinship Legal Guardianship may be considered. For an eligible CP&P case, KinGAP provides a negotiated subsidy up to standard age-based foster care board rates. KinGAP requires a licensed kin resource home and at least six consecutive months of placement; the KinGAP agreement must be signed before the KLG order.

The P.L. 2021 c. 154 reforms removed the old requirement that CP&P prove reunification efforts failed before KLG could be awarded, so KLG may be considered without waiting for failed reunification efforts.

Financial Support During Emergency Placement

As a CP&P emergency kinship placement, you're in the formal child welfare system. That opens access to:

• Foster care board rate payments once licensing is completed (these are higher than informal kinship benefits and carry no caregiver income cap)
• NJ FamilyCare / Medicaid coverage — KinGAP beneficiaries automatically remain enrolled; ask the caseworker how coverage is handled while placement is pending
• Caseworker coordination — ask which services and referrals are available for the child in your placement

Before licensing is completed, ask your caseworker what support is available. An active CP&P foster or kinship placement is ineligible for a standard WorkFirst NJ child-only grant, so do not assume that TANF can bridge a gap in foster payments.

The Difference from Informal Kinship Care

If you took the child in voluntarily — without CP&P involvement — your situation is informal kinship care, not an emergency placement. The benefits and support structure are entirely different. Informal caregivers access TANF child-only grants, KCSP (with a KLG order), and Kinship Navigator services instead of foster care payments.

The New Jersey Kinship Financial Help Guide maps every benefit available to kinship families on both the informal and formal tracks, with step-by-step application instructions and a document checklist for each program.

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