When children cannot remain safely with their parents, relatives, and close family friends often step in to provide care. This arrangement, known as kinship care, has been quietly holding families together for generations. September is Kinship Awareness Month, a time to recognize these unsung heroes and the vital role they play in helping children feel safe, loved, and connected.
What Is Kinship Care?
Kinship care refers to the situation where parents are unable to provide care, and children live with someone they already know and trust, often grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, or close family friends. Unlike traditional foster care, kinship care keeps children surrounded by familiar faces, cultural traditions, and often their own siblings.
Sometimes kinship care happens informally, with a grandparent stepping in while a parent recovers from an illness or addiction. Other times, child welfare agencies formally place children with relatives and support them as foster parents.
Why Kinship Care Matters
Research shows that children in kinship care experience:
- Less trauma: Staying with relatives reduces the shock of separation and helps children feel secure.
- Stronger identity: Children maintain ties to their culture, community, and family story.
- Better stability: Kinship placements are more likely to keep siblings together and provide long-term consistency.
- Healthier outcomes : With familiar support, children are more resilient in facing challenges
As one national report highlights, for every child in kinship foster care, about 20 more children are being raised by relatives outside of the formal system. That means millions of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends are quietly doing the work of raising children, often without the recognition or resources they deserve.
The Challenges Kinship Caregivers Face
While kinship care is powerful, it isn’t easy. Many caregivers:
- Step into the role suddenly, often during a family crisis.
- Live on fixed incomes, making it challenging to cover food, clothing, or child care.
- Navigate complex school, medical, or legal systems without much guidance.
In fact, a large portion of kinship caregivers don’t even realize they may be eligible for support like child care assistance, financial stipends, Medicaid, or kinship navigator programs that connect families with resources.
How We Can Support Kinship Families?
Supporting kinship caregivers isn’t just a matter of compassion, it’s a matter of helping children thrive. Here are ways communities and individuals can make a difference:
- Spread awareness: Many people don’t know that Kinship Awareness Month exists. Share information with your networks.
- Offer practical help: Babysitting, school pickups, or even dropping off a meal can ease a caregiver’s load.
- Advocate for resources: Encourage local leaders to fund kinship navigator programs and remove barriers for caregivers seeking support.
- Connect caregivers to programs that truly make a difference: At Impact Living Services, the Kinship Connect program offers tailored assessments, trauma-informed training, and resource navigation to support families in stabilizing and achieving success. For families who require a more in-depth clinical perspective, Impact’s Kindred Journey offers short-term therapeutic support that strengthens relationships and fosters healing. Together, these programs ensure that kinship caregivers aren’t left to do this vital work alone.
- Share resources: Caregivers can explore tools and support through Child Welfare Information Gateway and Generations United.
Why This Month Matters
Kinship Awareness Month highlights families who step up in extraordinary ways. It’s a chance to say thank you to grandparents raising grandchildren, uncles helping nieces and nephews feel safe, and friends who become family in every sense of the word.
By recognizing and supporting kinship care—and promoting programs like Kinship Connect and Kindred Journey, we give children not only a home, but also something even more valuable: a sense of belonging.