National Kinship Care month

September is National Kinship Care Month.

So what is kinship care exactly?
Kinship care is recognized as the full-time protection and nurture of children by relatives, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, fictive kin or non-related extended family members. Kinship care is inclusive, and is a way for birth families to ensure the child’s cultural values and ties of affection remain.
There are two types of kinship care:

• Informal - where children live with grandparents or other relatives and are not in the custody of a public child welfare agency
• Formal - where children are in the care of a relative or non-related extended family member and in the custody of a public child welfare agency

No matter which type of kinship care it is, they both have the same end goal in mind; to reduce the trauma of family separation and provide cultural and community ties. 

How common is kinship care? 
An estimated 2.7 million children (about 4% of all children in the United States) are being raised by grandparents or other relatives. Nearly 25% of children in the foster care system are placed with relatives, and it’s estimated that many more are being raised by grandparents or other relatives outside of the foster system. With so many children being raised by relatives other than their biological parents, chances are you most likely know someone in your own community who is currently raising a child in kinship care. 

How can you help?
Kinship caregivers can experience significant hardship once they take on this role of caring for additional children. Most often, the kinship arrangement is unforeseen, and families can experience increased financial, emotional, health, physical, and social challenges. The next time you speak with a kinship caregiver, take the time to offer them support in any way that you can. Maybe they need someone to cook them a meal, or someone to provide childcare services so they can have a little time away. 

Want to partner with the Houston Angels to support kinship families? Sign up to be an Angel Ally or join our Love Box program! More information about the ways that you can serve can be found on our website, www.houangels.org. 
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Want to know more?
If you want to know more information about kinship care, and how to support these families, please visit the following sources:

• https://nfpaonline.org/ 
• https://www.aecf.org/topics/kinship-care 
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/outofhome/kinship/