When children cannot safely remain with their parents, kinship care can help them stay connected to family, community, and the people they know and trust.
Kinship care means a child is cared for by a relative or another trusted adult with an existing connection to the family. It can provide stability and help children maintain important relationships during a difficult time.
Why Does Kinship Care Matter?
A Familiar Place
A grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or trusted family friend can provide comfort and stability during a time of change.
Staying Connected
Children can continue important relationships with siblings, relatives, friends, and their community.
Knowing Where They Come From
Family traditions, culture, language, stories, and history can remain part of a child’s everyday life.
Room to Heal and Thrive
A safe, stable relationship with a caring adult can help children feel supported, understood, and hopeful about their future. Children placed with non-kin caregivers.
Kinship Care Supports the Whole Family
Kinship care isn’t just about where a child lives. It’s about helping families stay connected and giving caregivers the support they need to care for a child.
At ASCI, we support the entire kinship care triad: children and youth, kinship caregivers, and birth parents.
Because every family has a story. Every child deserves to feel connected. And every caregiver deserves support.
The Numbers
Kinship care is already part of how families care for one another. The research shows just how important these family connections are.
31%
of children in foster care were living with kin in 2023.
35%
of foster care placements were with kin in 2021—up from 26% in 2007.
18:1
For every child in formal kinship foster care, an estimated 18 children are being raised by relatives outside the formal child welfare system.
What do these numbers tell us?
Families are stepping up every day to care for children they love. Kinship care can help children remain connected to the people, relationships, and communities that matter most.
Sources: Annie E. Casey Foundation, What Is Kinship Care? and Family Ties: Analysis From a State-by-State Survey of Kinship Care Policies.
Are You Caring for a Relative’s Child?
You stepped up for a child you love. You shouldn’t have to navigate everything that comes with it alone.
A Second Chance, Inc. can help you understand your options, find helpful resources, and connect with support for you and your family. Let’s make sure you have the support you need. Contact ASCI today by calling 412-342-0600.