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September is Kinship Care Month, a time to reflect on how to better support the kin caregivers who provide homes for children and youth when parents are unable to care for them. Kinship caregivers—most often grandparents[1] —include relatives like aunts, uncles, and older siblings. Kinship caregivers may also be supportive, nonrelative adults like family friends, godparents, teachers, or coaches. Being separated from parents and their home and losing any sense of normalcy is traumatic for children and youth. In general, they fare better if they can move in with people who they know, who love them, and who can keep them connected to their extended family, community, and culture.
Kinship caregiver arrangements vary. They may be a formal placement through the family court and child welfare agency or an informal arrangement outside of foster care, also referred to as voluntary placement, parental placement, informal kin care, or kinship diversion. Most kin caregivers fall into this second informal category and will have less access to the support and assistance needed to provide a stable placement for children.
Families are experts on their own needs. Asking a potential kin caregiver like an older sibling what it would take to support having a child in their home may be the most effective way to meet their actual needs. Development and support of quality kinship navigator programs can help to bridge access to supports.
Facts
- Expanding the community and child welfare service array to offer kinship caregivers concrete services for secure housing, financial stability, mental and emotional health, legal consultation, and childcare will reduce stress in the household and can lead to increased placement stability and the likelihood of permanency[2].
- Children who are older, have disabilities, or experience behavioral problems are associated with more frequent moves from kinship care to foster care. Rather than being reactive and moving the youth into foster care, agencies should explore what supports the youth and kinship caregivers need, consistent with the level of support for children in formal foster care, before placement and continuously to prevent disruption and to maintain stability[3].
- Young adults considering kinship care for siblings, nieces, or nephews may need specialized extra support to mitigate the personal costs of adjusting to parenting troubled children; interruption of studies, jobs, and career development; the stress of intrafamilial conflict; and financial strain[4].
Child welfare agencies can better support kinship caregivers by actively collaborating with other agencies, community partners, and service providers to develop a broad network of services. For example, agencies can use resources in Becoming a Family-Focused System, Visioning for Prevention: Protecting Children Through Strengthening Families and It’s All Relative: Supporting Kinship Care Discussion Guides and Video Series to start conversations, assess available resources, and plan for filling the gaps to meet kinship caregivers’ needs.
The Capacity Building Center for States has several resources to help agencies build capacity for enhancing kinship caregiver support:
Publications and Resources
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Training Resources
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Peer Support
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Kinship Navigators Peer Group – promotes kinship family support services and peer-to-peer connection and collaboration among state, territory, and Tribal kinship navigator program leaders, contracted providers, evaluators, technical assistance partners, and advocacy organizations focused on kinship family support services. Contact capacityinfo@icfi.com to request membership.
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Kentucky Kinship Resource Center – provides training, peer support, mentoring, and advocacy for kinship caregivers in Kentucky.
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Louisiana Kinship Navigator Program – serves as an information and referral network for kinship caregivers in Louisiana.
Related Resources
Related Organizations
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Child Welfare Information Gateway – promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families by connecting child welfare, adoption, and related professionals as well as the public to information, resources, and tools covering topics on child welfare, child abuse and neglect, out-of-home care, adoption, and more.
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Grandfamilies.org – serves as a national legal resource created to educate individuals about state laws and legislation in support of grandfamilies and to assist interested state legislators, advocates, caregivers, attorneys, and other policymakers in exploring policy options to support relatives and the children in their care both within and outside the child welfare system.
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Legal Impact Network for Kin – provides direct services to kinship families or advocate for kinship care-related laws and policy change.
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