The Caregivers Who Are Also Family: Understanding Kinship Care

The Caregivers Who Are Also Family: Understanding Kinship Care

When relatives or close friends step in to raise a child, they often do it suddenly and without a roadmap. Here’s what kinship care is and where to find support.

• Kinship care is when relatives or close family friends, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, or older siblings, step in to raise a child whose parents can’t
• More than 2.5 million children in the U.S., about 3%, are in kinship care arrangements, and September is National Kinship Care Awareness Month
• This guide covers what kinship care is, the challenges caregivers commonly face, and where to turn for support
• If you need help right now, call The Senior Alliance at 734.722.2830 or the MSU Kinship Care Resource Center (KCRC) at 800.535.1218

When Family Steps In

Maybe you’re a grandparent who never expected to be raising a child again. Maybe you’re an aunt, an uncle, or a family friend who said yes when a crisis hit, so a child could stay with people they know and love. Either way, the change likely came fast, and it probably didn’t come with a roadmap.

September is National Kinship Care Awareness Month, a time to recognize the caregivers who take on this role. Kinship care keeps children connected to family and community, but it also brings real questions and real challenges. The good news is that support exists.

What Is Kinship Care?

Kinship care is the full-time care of children by relatives or close family friends when parents are unable to care for them. Caregivers can be grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, older siblings, or any trusted adult a family considers kin.

This kind of care helps maintain family bonds, provides stability, and supports a child’s cultural and community ties. It isn’t so much a formal, legal program category as a family stepping up, which is exactly why caregivers so often don’t identify as a caregiver and don’t know where to turn for help.

Common Challenges Kinship Caregivers Face

Every family’s situation is different, but a few kinship caregiving pressures come up again and again:

• Legal questions. Some resources and benefits are only available to legal guardians, so caregivers may need to weigh the pros and cons of pursuing legal custody or guardianship.
• Emotional stress. Caregivers and children alike may experience stress, grief, or isolation as they adjust to a new normal.
• Balancing everything. Juggling caregiving with work, personal needs, and other obligations is an ongoing effort. Routines, help from family, and respite care can ease the load.
• Family relationships. When it’s possible and appropriate, supporting a child’s relationship with their biological parents (within any court orders or rules) is part of the picture too.

These challenges are common. They’re not a sign that anything is being done wrong, which is part of why support and community matter so much.

Where Kinship Caregivers Can Find Support

Nobody has to piece this together alone. There are people whose full-time job is helping kinship families find what they need.

The Senior Alliance

Our caregivinghaven.org offers resources for family caregivers, including those raising a relative’s child. You can also call our Information & Assistance line at 734.722.2830 to talk with a real person.

Michigan State University Kinship Care Resource Center (KCRC) 

KCRC is a statewide program that connects Michigan kinship families to basic needs, school enrollment help, legal resources, and financial assistance. It also hosts free online support groups for kinship caregivers, with specialized sessions for grandparents, LGBTQIA+ caregivers, and foster parents.

How to Get Connected

Taking the first step can be as simple as a phone call:

• Call The Senior Alliance at 734.722.2830 to talk with an Information & Assistance Specialist
• Call the MSU Kinship Care Resource Center at 800.535.1218, or visit kinship.msu.edu for resources and the support group calendar
• Ask about specialized support groups if one fits your family’s situation

Support for the Families Who Show Up

Kinship caregivers step in to give children stability, love, and a sense of belonging during hard moments. Doing that well doesn’t mean doing it alone. The Senior Alliance and the MSU Kinship Care Resource Center are both here to help.

Raising a relative’s child is an act of love, and there’s a whole network ready to support the people doing it.

FAQs

Q: What is kinship care?
Kinship care is when relatives or close family friends raise a child because the child’s parents can’t. For more depth, the MSU KCRC website at kinship.msu.edu has a page dedicated to explaining what kinship care means.

Q: Do I need legal custody to be a kinship caregiver?
Legal custody or guardianship isn’t required to provide care, but some resources and benefits are limited to legal guardians. Every situation is different, so the best move is to call and ask what applies to yours. Our Information & Assistance team at 734.722.2830 can help you get started.

Q: Are there support groups for kinship caregivers?
Yes. The MSU Kinship Care Resource Center hosts free online support groups, including sessions for grandparents, LGBTQIA+ caregivers, and foster parents. Visit kinship.msu.edu or call 800.535.1218 to find one.