BY JAIA LENT
“One thing that would make life better for grandfamilies and kin caregivers right now is access to consistent financial, emotional, and practical support, especially for supervised visits, mental health services, and daily living expenses. Many of us step in suddenly to care for children and shoulder all the costs, yet we are saving the system billions. Having reliable support would allow us to focus more on supporting our children heal and thrive, instead of constantly struggling to make ends meet.” – Grandparent caregiver Angela Clements, Wisconsin
Grandparents and other kin caregivers strengthen the very fabric of our nation. The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows they raise about 2.5 million children whose parents cannot. These caregivers keep children with family and out of the overburdened foster care system. For every 1 child being raised by kin in foster care, there are 19 children being raised by kin outside of foster care. Caregivers in these families, known as grandfamilies or kinship families, use their own limited resources to provide billions of dollars in care to children in the United States every year. Research shows investments in meaningful supports for grandfamilies helps the children thrive and reduces the likelihood children will enter foster care.
Grandfamily Caregivers Provide Unrecognized Support to the Child Welfare System
Grandfamily and kinship caregivers step forward voluntarily and at great personal sacrifice to provide a loving home to children who cannot remain with their parents. A new report from Generations United explains that they also play a critical role in supporting our nation’s child welfare system. Without these caregivers, the foster care system would be completely overwhelmed, and it would cost taxpayers at least $10.5 billion annually. This is a conservative estimate based on the cost of foster care maintenance payments if just one-fourth of the children in kinship families entered the foster care system. It does not include the additional billions of associated court, administrative, case management, and oversight costs that are necessary when a state agency formally removes a child from their parents’ care and places them in government custody.
“Without these caregivers, the foster care system would be completely overwhelmed, and it would cost taxpayers at least $10.5 billion annually.”
Despite their contributions, the essential role of grandfamily caregivers goes routinely unrecognized, and they are largely left without access to basic support and resources when taking on the unexpected and complex care of children who often come to them with significant mental and behavioral health challenges, and struggle with the trauma of losing or being separated from their parent(s).
Caregiving Comes at a Cost
Most grandparents or other kin caregivers who step forward to provide full-time care for children receive little government support, and they do so at great cost to themselves. Caregivers frequently step into the role with little to no warning and are living on fixed incomes. They often sacrifice their retirement savings and financial well-being, leaving them without resources to provide for themselves in their later years.
There is also a cost to caregivers’ health. Focusing on the needs of the children, they often ignore their own physical and mental health, which can lead to chronic stress, depression, and physical illnesses such as hypertension. This can result in them being more likely to require costly supports and services later in life. Grandfamily caregivers report experiencing feelings of social isolation, stigma, grief, and loss while trying to meet the complex behavioral, mental, and physical health needs of children who have experienced trauma before coming into their care.
Because they have kept children out of foster care, kin caregivers are often disconnected from systems of support for themselves and the children. They face a host of challenges accessing critical help like financial and legal assistance, affordable housing, health care, mental health resources, child care, respite, and food and nutrition assistance. Where support is available, applications and services are often designed for parents or foster families, not grandfamilies, compounding barriers to effective help. Grandfamilies and kinship families need improved access, increased availability, and tailored services to fit their unique circumstances.
Improved Supports and Services for Kin and Grandfamilies Benefits Children, Caregivers and Our Economy
When grandfamilies get the support they need, children thrive in the care of kin. Compared to children raised in foster care by non-relatives, children in foster care raised by relatives have better mental and behavioral health outcomes, do better academically, have stronger stability, and higher levels of permanency. Children in kinship foster care typically get access to financial assistance, supports, and services similar to those offered to non-kin foster parents. In contrast, children raised by kin who step forward to keep them out of foster care are often left with little to no support. Investing in additional supports and services for kinship families who care for children outside of foster care will help the children and caregivers flourish while preventing the need for more costly foster care services.
This article uses excerpts from Generation United’s 2025 State of Grandfamilies report. Read the full report, recommendations, and research citations at www.gu.org.
Learn more about how to support policies that help grandfamilies by signing up for Generations United’s alerts.
