Resources    Kinship Care

Definition
The term "grandfamilies" refers to families where the grandparent(s) or other relative(s) is raising a child and may or may not have a legal relationship to the child who is related by blood, marriage or adoption.  Also known as "kinship care," "kincare," "relative care," this term includes grandparents and other relatives raising children.

The Numbers
The phenomenon of grandparents and other relatives raising children is nothing new.  Still, the numbers are significant.  According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are currently over 6 million children in the United States today who are living in grandfamilies.  Of these, 2.4 million children are being raised solely by their grandparents or other relatives with no parents present.  These grandparents and other relatives are keeping families together and serving as a safety net to keep children out of the formal foster care system.  However, many grandparents and other relatives caring for children face obstacles not encountered by biological parents.  Obstacles like the inability to place the children on their health insurance policies, to obtain affordable housing in which they can live with the children, and to enroll the children in school.  The obstacles can be even greater if the relative caregiver is "informal," meaning he or she lacks a legal relationship, such as legal custody or guardianship, with the child.

To obtain data on grandparent caregivers from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, and American Community Survey visit www.census.gov/acs/www.

To obtain information on kinship care and the child welfare system, click here.

The Urban Institute's Newsletter includes statistics on grandparents raising grandchildren.  You can also read more about children and youth welfare by going here.

Factors that Contribute to the Numbers of Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children

• Substance Abuse 
• Death of a parent
• Child abuse and/or neglect
• Abandonment
• Teenage pregnancy
• HIV/AIDS
• Unemployment
• Incarceration
• Divorce
• Mental Health Problems
• Family Violence
• Poverty
• Military Deployment

Possible Impact on Foster Care System
About 1/3 of the 500,000 children currently in formal foster care in the United States are in placements with grandparents and other relatives.  (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, AFCARS, April 2001).  The foster care system would be overwhelmed if the remaining children being raised by relatives were to enter the system.  Translated to dollars, if one million children -- about half of the children living in relative-headed homes without any parents present -- were moved into the foster care system, it would cost taxpayers about $6.5 billion dollars each year.  This figure was calculated based on the Federal share of the 2000 average monthly foster care maintenance payment, which was estimated at $545 (2000 Green Book, Committee on Ways & Means, U.S. House of Representatives).

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