Providing Kinship Care
Becoming a kinship care provider is challenging for all involved. Usually, you have only a little time to make the decision to bring a kinship placement into your home. Often, you love the child’s parents, and your heart is already breaking because of the situations that have led to you becoming the primary caregiver for this child. The child you are caring for is also struggling with the changes in his or her life. There is a lot to navigate.
One of the first decisions you will have to make is what type of legal arrangement is best for you, the child, and the child’s parent. There are emotional, legal, and financial issues that must be considered. You also may need to decide whether you become a licensed foster parent, a guardian, an informal childcare provider, or some variation of these arrangements.
Creating a Family has many resources to help you determine your options when considering Kinship Care. We also have resources to make the transition from the grandparent, aunt, or cousin to the parent easier for everyone. A few of our most recently published resources we think you will find particularly helpful are here:
- How Do You Manage Relationships with Birth Parents with Substance Use Disorders? (article)
- Working with Your Child’s Birth Family During the Holiday Season (article)
- Partnering with Relatives to Support Kinship Care (article for child welfare professionals)
- Advocating for Your Child With Prenatal Substance Exposure (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Helping Your Child Cope with Living in a Scary World (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Helping Parents and Kids Manage Phones, Internet, and Gaming (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- What Do Kinship Caregivers Need to Succeed? (downloadable course from CreatingaFamilyEd.org)
Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the other resources we have on Kinship Care in the form of articles, podcasts, and fact sheets.
Additional Resources
