September is National Kinship Care Month

Across the United States, about 2.5 million children are being raised by grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends. These caregivers also provide stability and a sense of belonging to children when they cannot live with their parents. Yet many kinship families have problems getting the supports and services they need.

National Kinship Care Month is an opportunity to help bring attention to the experiences of kinship and grandfamilies, highlight their strengths and challenges,and recommit to building stronger systems that recognize and support them.

These families may need access to transportation, housing, healthcare, and education. Yet because many of these systems are not designed with kinship families in mind, it can be hard for families to find and get support. ACL works across aging, disability, and caregiving networks to help kinship and grandfamilies get the resources they need.

Key to this work is the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network(GKSN), a national technical assistance center that provides resources and training to help communities and providers better serve kinship caregivers. To date, GKSN has developed over 160 original resources, responded to nearly 1,400 requests for help, and reached more than 61,000 stakeholders through outreach and presentations.

ACL and its partners, including GKSN grantee Generations United,help communities spot the barriers kinship caregivers face and make programs and policies work better for them. ACL also supports initiatives, councils, and research projects that strengthen caregiving across the lifespan. The ACL-led Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren identifies and promotes resources and best practices to help grandparents and kinship caregivers meet their families' needs while maintaining their own well-being. Learn more about ACL's efforts on the Caregiving and the Direct Care Workforce page.

This National Kinship Care Month, join ACL in recognizing the contributions of kinship and grandfamilies. Follow and use #KinshipCareMonth throughout September to join the national conversation.

Featured GKSN Resources

• Let's Celebrate National Kinship Care Month!- Communications toolkit including key messages, social media posts, and more
• Kinship/Grandfamilies Data- Statistics on the number of children in kinship families and what that means for families and the nation
• Summary of National Research- Fact sheet that shows children thrive in kinship families
• Kinship Matters to…- Brochures exploring how kinship families intersect with different systems (aging, disability, child welfare, housing)
• Resource Guide for Providers- Links, tips, and toolkits to help those supporting kinship families