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 struggling with the changes in his or her life as well. 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, for the child, and for 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 sort out 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:
- Advice to My Pre-Adoptive Parent Self, Advice to my Pre-Adoptee Self, Advice to My Pre-Foster/Kinship Parent Self (a 3-part series of articles)
- Advocating for Your Foster or Kinship Child at School (article)
- Strengthening Your Marriage/Partnership While Raising Foster, Kin, or Adopted Kids (article)
- How to Raise an Intense Child (1 hr. podcast w/ expert)
- Handling Social Media (1 hr. podcast w/ experts)
- Panel of Kinship Caregivers: What’s it Really Like? (1 hr. podcast w/ guest panel)
- What Do Kinship Caregivers Need to Succeed? (1 hr. 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 blogs/articles, radio shows/podcasts, tip sheets, fact sheets, and expert Q & A’s.
Additional Resources
