What is kinship care?

September is Kinship Month!

Kinship Care is defined as full-time nurturing and protection of children by relatives. This can include grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, godparents, non-related extended family members, or anyone who the children and parents consider to be family.

Sometimes this is arranged informally by families, and sometimes it is arranged formally through the child welfare system. Either way, EVOVLE Family Services supports and appreciates all kinship caregivers and the important roles they play.

Kinship care is a lot more common than you may think! Approximately 2.7 million children are being raised by grandparents or other relatives. That’s 4 percent of all the children in the U.S.

September is National Kinship Care month, so it’s a good time to spread awareness, learn more about kinship care, and even offer your support to families.

How you can be involved:

Chances are, you probably someone in your own community who is raising a child in kinship care. This month, take the time to show your support!

You could:
-Cook a meal for the family.
-Offer to run errands, like grocery shopping or picking up prescriptions.
-Offer childcare services so a kinship caregiver can have time to themselves.
-Spread resources, like our UMOJA camp, that could benefit families.
-Donate to EVOLVE’s Foster Care Amazon Wishlist to help provide supplies and resources to foster/kinship families.

You can also use the hashtag #kinshipcaremonth to tell your networks about your kinship care experience or the amazing kinship care families you know!