Kinship Support for Raising a Child

Kinship Care Makes a Meaningful Difference

View our Kinship Resource Guide in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF), which includes information on benefits, enrollment, childcare, schools, legal assistance and more.

Kinship care families are everywhere. Millions of grandparents and other caregivers throughout the United States have stepped forward to raise children for family members or friends. Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, godparents and close friends have taken on the role of substitute parents to many children. Family members and close friends have raised the children of others for generations; however, the challenges facing families have changed significantly over time.

Kinship care is typically considered to be either informal or formal:

• Informal kinship care is when the family/kin decides that the child will live with relatives or friends. Most kinship care arrangements are informal. The caregiver may want to obtain legal custody of the child in order to have the maximum ability to make decisions about the health and welfare of the child.
• Formal kinship care involves parenting of children by family/kin or friend as a result of a determination by the court and the child welfare agency. The courts rule that the child must be separated from his or her parents because of abuse, neglect, dependency, abandonment or special medical circumstances. The child is then placed in the legal custody of the child welfare agency, and the kin provide the full time care, protection and nurturing of the child. The alternative to formal or informal kinship care is usually placement with a foster care provider.

As kinship care providers, you probably thought your days of raising children were over, or you were surprised by the need to raise a relative’s children perhaps with your own. You are changing diapers and helping children with homework. Raising children is expensive and exhausting, but by raising these children yourselves, you are making a meaningful difference in their lives.

For more information on Kinship programs and resources, email Aging and Disability Resources or call 804-768-7878.