One of the things you may hear discussed is “kinship care.” What does that mean? Well, it seems to be self-explanatory. Kinship care means that the child is in the care of a relative.

The relationship with the child can vary. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins can all be caregivers for a relative minor child if they interested, appropriate and capable caregivers. This is determined by a background check from social services, along with other determining criteria.

Kinship care is not at all unusual. About one third of all children in foster care (approximately 200,000 children) are in a kinship care arrangement. These statistics do not necessarily include children who were voluntarily placed with a relative by a birth parent.

If it all possible, it is preferred that the child stay within their family of origin. I am all for that when it is in the best interest of the child. Who wants a child to leave their family if they don’t have to? In my kids’ cases, it has not been appropriate. In Hannah’s case, she suffered more abuse while in kinship care.

One of the problems with kinship care is pointed out by the Urban Institute in their report. Many of the children are living below the poverty level, in single caregiver environments or with a caregiver without a high school education.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying any of these are terrible environments or detrimental to the child, but these are not usually the case in foster care. The single parent environment would be the most common of the three.

One other disadvantage is that kinship care providers do not receive the same monthly stipend as foster or adoptive parents. I don’t understand why, but that’s the way it works. There is a significant difference and can be harmful to the child, and potentially disrupt what could be a good placement. Around here, the kinship payments are around $250 a month. That is barely enough to feed and clothe a child, much less care for all the extra physical and emotional needs that the child will have. It can set the placement up to fail when a child could remain in the family of origin. It’s not fair to the child.

If we want to help our children, someone needs to take a look at the kinship care system.

Child Welfare League kinship care report

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