What is Kinship Care?

by guest blogger Kristie Lund

Coordinator/Group Facilitator at Relatives As Parents Project

Kinship care is the full time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, or any adult who has a kinship bond with a child. This definition is designed to be inclusive and respectful of cultural values and ties of affection. It allows a child to grow to adulthood in a family environment. (Child Welfare League of America)

Who We Are:

Children

• More than 6.7 million children across the country live in households maintained by grandparents or other relatives.
• More than 4.8 million children live with grandparents, and about 1.9 million with other relatives like aunts or uncles.
• About 2.5 million of these children have no parents present in the home according to Census data analysis conducted by Generations United partners.

Grandparents

• About 2.5 million grandparents who live with their grandchildren report they are responsible for their own grandchildren.
• About 1.8 million of these grandparents are married and about 750,000 were never married, are widowed or divorced.
• About 950,000 of these grandparents are male. About 1.6 million of these grandparents are female.
• About 830,000 of these grandparents are age 60 or older.
• About 950,000 of these grandparents report that they have been responsible for the grandchildren for more than 5 years.

Kinship families are formed for different reasons – parental death, substance abuse, military deployment, incarceration, mental illness. As a result, families are in every area in the country, all income levels, all races, and all ethnicities.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey, an average of 1 in 10 school age children is being raised by a relative. (Generations United)

The following is a quote from my brochure for my support group:

“A relative raising their kin’s children is not a new idea. What is new is the support and information that is available to us. The commitment that we have made is not an easy one. We run into obstacles that the biological parents/foster parents do not face. We have huge emotional ups and downs that few understand. But the good news is we are not alone as we pursue our goals of offering love and guidance to these great kids.”

(c) 2012 by Kristie Lund

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