Understanding Kinship Care<\\/h3>\\n Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives (Kin) or close family friends (Fictive Kin). This living arrangement can occur with or without the involvement of a child-placing agency. Kinship care may be informal, voluntary, or formal.<\\/p>\\n A Kinship caregiver can provide some key component to child attachment:<\\/p>\\n \\nthe relational stability for a child able to remain in their circle of family and\\/or friends;<\\/li>\\naccess to their own culture, values and traditions;<\\/li>\\nreducing the trauma to the child by providing continued stability within a known environment.<\\/li>\\n<\\/ul>\\nMichigan Has a High Percentage of Kin Families<\\/h3>\\n According to the Detroit News in their April 1st report<\\/a> by Sarah Rahal<\\/a>, Michigan has already been providing kin the same level of support as licensed foster families, using state or county funding. In the state alone, 42% of families caring for children in the foster system were kin families. With new standards now in place, kin and fictive kin families will finally be recognized as the caregivers they are. Kin caring for children in foster care are rarely recognized in most states, but Michigan has changed that for their citizens.<\\/p>\\n In the aforementioned article, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra<\\/a>, states:<\\/p>\\n " \\u201cIt is often grandparents who step up to care for a grandchild when that child\\u2019s parent can\\u2019t. We must be partners with those grandparents and support their commitment to care for the child while a parent gets back on their feet, so more children don\\u2019t end up in foster care. Michigan\\u2019s robust support for kin caregivers has made it a national leader. The approval of Michigan\\u2019s plan means more kin caregivers will receive the financial support they deserve when caring for family members.\\u201d<\\/p><\\/blockquote>\\n Supporting Kinship Families<\\/h3>\\n**** *\* ****Up until this recent change, Kinship caregivers reported little to no support when accepting a loved one from a struggling family member. They seldom receive guidance, resources or training, and are simply expected to open their home because of an established relationship with the child. This becomes a problem in the area of applying for government aid, as kin may not be the court-appointed guardian. As a result they take on a large responsibility with little to no financial or services support.<\\/p>\\n " Secretary Becerra announced that \\u201cMichigan will be the first state to implement separate licensing standards for kin caregivers to make the process simpler and allow them to get aid.\\u201d<\\/p><\\/blockquote>\\n Grandparents Raising Grandchildren<\\/h3>\\n According to the Department of Health & Human Services<\\/a>, in 2023 there were more than two million children in the United States being raised by grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends. The linked article states that \\u2018relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because this helps maintain the children\\u2019s connections with their families, increases stability, and minimizes the trauma of family separation.\\u2019<\\/p>\\n \\u2018Although many grandparents or other relatives struggle with the cost of raising family members, there are various programs available to assist with their basic family needs. Child Welfare Information Gateway<\\/a>, a service of the Children\\u2019s Bureau, provides a factsheet, Kinship Caregivers and the Child Welfare System<\\/em><\\/a>. This describes the various forms of kinship care and types of financial support that may be available to relative caregivers. Information Gateway also maintains resources for relative and kin caregivers\\u00a0<\\/a>.\\u2019<\\/p>\\n The requirements for reimbursement vary in each state and factors such as income and legal status of the arrangement could determine financial eligibility.<\\/p>\\n Resources for Kinship Care<\\/h3>\\n Many states have a kinship care contact that may be able to answer questions related to sources of financial assistance, and some state websites provide specific kinship care information and links to relevant organizations. The Information Gateway website provides a listing of\\u00a0kinship care contacts and programs\\u00a0<\\/a>by state.<\\/p>\\n At Grandfamilies.org<\\/a> you will find free and online resources\\u00a0<\\/a> for grandfamilies stepping back into parenting roles.<\\/p>\\n Additionally, dialing 2-1-1 in most states will link you to a free social services hotline. Through this, community resources and benefits can be discovered.<\\/p>\\n My husband is grandfather to 9 children, most of them being younger than his own adopted sons. Taking on young children when many are enjoying an empty nest is tiring. Grandparenting is hard. The agility is not there. The mental focus doesn\\u2019t come as easily. And retirement plans? Out the window. Michigan has taken the lead in honoring kin or fictive kin who have chosen children over retirement. I applaud them and hope to see this as a new norm for other states.<\\/p>\\n Until next time, my Savoring friend!<\\/p>\\n \"Signature<\\/p>\\n<\\/body><\\/html>\\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michigan grabs the leader-board as the first state to provide Kinship caregivers the same level of assistance and licensing requirements that are given to foster care providers. Why is this important? Up until now, Kinship caregivers bring children into their families but do not receive the assistance granted to licensed foster care families, even though \[…\]<\\/p>\\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured\_media":444,"comment\_status":"closed","ping\_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":\[26,108\],"tags":\[114,111\],"class\_list":\["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption","category-kinship-care","tag-grandparenting","tag-kinship-care"\],"yoast\_head":"\\nMichigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers<\\/title>\\n<meta name=\\"description\\" content=\\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\\" \\/>\\n<meta name=\\"robots\\" content=\\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\\" \\/>\\n<link rel=\\"canonical\\" href=\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:locale\\" content=\\"en\_US\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:type\\" content=\\"article\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:title\\" content=\\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:description\\" content=\\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:url\\" content=\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:site\_name\\" content=\\"Savoring Motherhood\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"article:author\\" content=\\"www.facebook.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"article:published\_time\\" content=\\"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"article:modified\_time\\" content=\\"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00\\" \\/>\\n<meta property=\\"og:image\\" content=\\"https:\\/\\/wp-media.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/sites\\/2183\\/2024\\/05\\/grandparents-8577394\_1280.jpg\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta property=\\"og:image:width\\" content=\\"1280\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta property=\\"og:image:height\\" content=\\"853\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta property=\\"og:image:type\\" content=\\"image\\/jpeg\\" \\/>\\n<meta name=\\"author\\" content=\\"Lois J Rodriguez\\" \\/>\\n<meta name=\\"twitter:card\\" content=\\"summary\_large\_image\\" \\/>\\n<meta name=\\"twitter:label1\\" content=\\"Written by\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta name=\\"twitter:data1\\" content=\\"Lois J Rodriguez\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta name=\\"twitter:label2\\" content=\\"Est. reading time\\" \\/>\\n\\t<meta name=\\"twitter:data2\\" content=\\"4 minutes\\" \\/>\\n<script type=\\"application\\/ld+json\\" class=\\"yoast-schema-graph\\">{\\"@context\\":\\"https:\\/\\/schema.org\\",\\"@graph\\":\[{\\"@type\\":\\"WebPage\\",\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/\\",\\"url\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/\\",\\"name\\":\\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\\",\\"isPartOf\\":{\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#website\\"},\\"datePublished\\":\\"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00\\",\\"dateModified\\":\\"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00\\",\\"author\\":{\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#\\/schema\\/person\\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee\\"},\\"description\\":\\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\\",\\"breadcrumb\\":{\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/#breadcrumb\\"},\\"inLanguage\\":\\"en-US\\",\\"potentialAction\\":\[{\\"@type\\":\\"ReadAction\\",\\"target\\":\[\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/\\"\]}\]},{\\"@type\\":\\"BreadcrumbList\\",\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/#breadcrumb\\",\\"itemListElement\\":\[{\\"@type\\":\\"ListItem\\",\\"position\\":1,\\"name\\":\\"Home\\",\\"item\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/\\"},{\\"@type\\":\\"ListItem\\",\\"position\\":2,\\"name\\":\\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\\"}\]},{\\"@type\\":\\"WebSite\\",\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#website\\",\\"url\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/\\",\\"name\\":\\"Savoring Motherhood\\",\\"description\\":\\"Savoring Motherhood dives into foster care, adoption, traditional & trauma parenting to encourage & equip families from an evangelical Christian perspective.\\",\\"potentialAction\\":\[{\\"@type\\":\\"SearchAction\\",\\"target\\":{\\"@type\\":\\"EntryPoint\\",\\"urlTemplate\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/?s={search\_term\_string}\\"},\\"query-input\\":\\"required name=search\_term\_string\\"}\],\\"inLanguage\\":\\"en-US\\"},{\\"@type\\":\\"Person\\",\\"@id\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#\\/schema\\/person\\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee\\",\\"name\\":\\"Lois J Rodriguez\\",\\"description\\":\\"As a foster parent & adoptive mom to 4 young boys, Lois went from newlywed to a family of 6 seemingly overnight. Her deep dive experience with at-risk youth and trauma parenting has been a sink or swim adventure. Parenting neurodivergent children has sent Lois on a quest to understand the critical phases of child development and the challenges for at-risk youth. Her research focuses on hemispheric brain balancing, secure attachment, oppositional defiance and neurodevelopmental disorders, early childhood development, hardwired temperaments and brain remodeling. Expanding her research to early and middle adolescent development, Lois is authoring a book on middle school parenting. Dissecting this critical area of development into easy to understand language, she aims to reorient the apprehension many families feel during this rewarding parenting season. Join the conversation at LoisJRodriguez.com.\\",\\"sameAs\\":\[\\"http:\\/\\/www.LoisJRodriguez.com\\",\\"www.facebook.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor\\",\\"www.instagram.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor\\"\],\\"url\\":\\"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/author\\/lrodriguez\\/\\"}\]}<\\/script>\\n","yoast\_head\_json":{"title":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/","og\_locale":"en\_US","og\_type":"article","og\_title":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","og\_description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","og\_url":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/","og\_site\_name":"Savoring Motherhood","article\_author":"www.facebook.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor","article\_published\_time":"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00","article\_modified\_time":"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00","og\_image":\[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\\/\\/wp-media.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/sites\\/2183\\/2024\\/05\\/grandparents-8577394\_1280.jpg","type":"image\\/jpeg"}\],"author":"Lois J Rodriguez","twitter\_card":"summary\_large\_image","twitter\_misc":{"Written by":"Lois J Rodriguez","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\\/\\/schema.org","@graph":\[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/","url":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/","name":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#\\/schema\\/person\\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee"},"description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":\[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":\["https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/"\]}\]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/2024\\/05\\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":\[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers"}\]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#website","url":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/","name":"Savoring Motherhood","description":"Savoring Motherhood dives into foster care, adoption, traditional & trauma parenting to encourage & equip families from an evangelical Christian perspective.","potentialAction":\[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/?s={search\_term\_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search\_term\_string"}\],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/#\\/schema\\/person\\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee","name":"Lois J Rodriguez","description":"As a foster parent & adoptive mom to 4 young boys, Lois went from newlywed to a family of 6 seemingly overnight. Her deep dive experience with at-risk youth and trauma parenting has been a sink or swim adventure. Parenting neurodivergent children has sent Lois on a quest to understand the critical phases of child development and the challenges for at-risk youth. Her research focuses on hemispheric brain balancing, secure attachment, oppositional defiance and neurodevelopmental disorders, early childhood development, hardwired temperaments and brain remodeling. Expanding her research to early and middle adolescent development, Lois is authoring a book on middle school parenting. Dissecting this critical area of development into easy to understand language, she aims to reorient the apprehension many families feel during this rewarding parenting season. Join the conversation at LoisJRodriguez.com.","sameAs":\["http:\\/\\/www.LoisJRodriguez.com","www.facebook.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor","www.instagram.com\\/loisjrodriguezauthor"\],"url":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/author\\/lrodriguez\\/"}\]}},"\_links":{"self":\[{"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/posts\\/389","targetHints":{"allow":\["GET"\]}}\],"collection":\[{"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/posts"}\],"about":\[{"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/types\\/post"}\],"author":\[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/users\\/5480"}\],"replies":\[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/comments?post=389"}\],"version-history":\[{"count":0,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/posts\\/389\\/revisions"}\],"wp:featuredmedia":\[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/media\\/444"}\],"wp:attachment":\[{"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/media?parent=389"}\],"wp:term":\[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post\_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\\/\\/www.patheos.com\\/blogs\\/savoringmotherhood\\/wp-json\\/wp\\/v2\\/tags?post=389"}\],"curies":\[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\\/\\/api.w.org\\/{rel}","templated":true}\]}} " "

{"id":389,"date":"2024-05-08T11:44:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T15:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/?p=389"},"modified":"2024-05-22T11:54:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T15:54:25","slug":"michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

"The

Image courtesy of Image Tung Lam from Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Michigan grabs the leader-board as the first state to provide Kinship caregivers the same level of assistance and licensing requirements that are given to foster care providers. Why is this important? Up until now, Kinship caregivers bring children into their families but do not receive the assistance granted to licensed foster care families, even though they are opening their home in the same way.<\/p>\n

Understanding Kinship Care<\/h3>\n Kinship care refers to the care of children by relatives (Kin) or close family friends (Fictive Kin). This living arrangement can occur with or without the involvement of a child-placing agency. Kinship care may be informal, voluntary, or formal.<\/p>\n A Kinship caregiver can provide some key component to child attachment:<\/p>\n \nthe relational stability for a child able to remain in their circle of family and\/or friends;<\/li>\naccess to their own culture, values and traditions;<\/li>\nreducing the trauma to the child by providing continued stability within a known environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nMichigan Has a High Percentage of Kin Families<\/h3>\n According to the Detroit News in their April 1st report<\/a> by Sarah Rahal<\/a>, Michigan has already been providing kin the same level of support as licensed foster families, using state or county funding. In the state alone, 42% of families caring for children in the foster system were kin families. With new standards now in place, kin and fictive kin families will finally be recognized as the caregivers they are. Kin caring for children in foster care are rarely recognized in most states, but Michigan has changed that for their citizens.<\/p>\n In the aforementioned article, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra<\/a>, states:<\/p>\n " \u201cIt is often grandparents who step up to care for a grandchild when that child\u2019s parent can\u2019t. We must be partners with those grandparents and support their commitment to care for the child while a parent gets back on their feet, so more children don\u2019t end up in foster care. Michigan\u2019s robust support for kin caregivers has made it a national leader. The approval of Michigan\u2019s plan means more kin caregivers will receive the financial support they deserve when caring for family members.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Supporting Kinship Families<\/h3>\n Up until this recent change, Kinship caregivers reported little to no support when accepting a loved one from a struggling family member. They seldom receive guidance, resources or training, and are simply expected to open their home because of an established relationship with the child. This becomes a problem in the area of applying for government aid, as kin may not be the court-appointed guardian. As a result they take on a large responsibility with little to no financial or services support.<\/p>\n " Secretary Becerra announced that \u201cMichigan will be the first state to implement separate licensing standards for kin caregivers to make the process simpler and allow them to get aid.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Grandparents Raising Grandchildren<\/h3>\n** According to the Department of Health & Human Services<\/a>, in 2023 there were more than two million children in the United States being raised by grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends. The linked article states that \u2018relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because this helps maintain the children\u2019s connections with their families, increases stability, and minimizes the trauma of family separation.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Although many grandparents or other relatives struggle with the cost of raising family members, there are various programs available to assist with their basic family needs. Child Welfare Information Gateway<\/a>, a service of the Children\u2019s Bureau, provides a factsheet, Kinship Caregivers and the Child Welfare System<\/em><\/a>. This describes the various forms of kinship care and types of financial support that may be available to relative caregivers. Information Gateway also maintains resources for relative and kin caregivers\u00a0<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n The requirements for reimbursement vary in each state and factors such as income and legal status of the arrangement could determine financial eligibility.<\/p>\n Resources for Kinship Care<\/h3>\n Many states have a kinship care contact that may be able to answer questions related to sources of financial assistance, and some state websites provide specific kinship care information and links to relevant organizations. The Information Gateway website provides a listing of\u00a0kinship care contacts and programs\u00a0<\/a>by state.<\/p>\n At Grandfamilies.org<\/a> you will find free and online resources\u00a0<\/a> for grandfamilies stepping back into parenting roles.<\/p>\n Additionally, dialing 2-1-1 in most states will link you to a free social services hotline. Through this, community resources and benefits can be discovered.<\/p>\n My husband is grandfather to 9 children, most of them being younger than his own adopted sons. Taking on young children when many are enjoying an empty nest is tiring. Grandparenting is hard. The agility is not there. The mental focus doesn\u2019t come as easily. And retirement plans? Out the window. Michigan has taken the lead in honoring kin or fictive kin who have chosen children over retirement. I applaud them and hope to see this as a new norm for other states.<\/p>\n Until next time, my Savoring friend!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michigan grabs the leader-board as the first state to provide Kinship caregivers the same level of assistance and licensing requirements that are given to foster care providers. Why is this important? Up until now, Kinship caregivers bring children into their families but do not receive the assistance granted to licensed foster care families, even though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured_media":444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,108],"tags":[114,111],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption","category-kinship-care","tag-grandparenting","tag-kinship-care"],"yoast_head":"\nMichigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Savoring Motherhood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/2183\/2024\/05\/grandparents-8577394_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lois J Rodriguez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lois J Rodriguez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#\/schema\/person\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee\"},\"description\":\"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/\",\"name\":\"Savoring Motherhood\",\"description\":\"Savoring Motherhood dives into foster care, adoption, traditional & trauma parenting to encourage & equip families from an evangelical Christian perspective.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#\/schema\/person\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee\",\"name\":\"Lois J Rodriguez\",\"description\":\"As a foster parent & adoptive mom to 4 young boys, Lois went from newlywed to a family of 6 seemingly overnight. Her deep dive experience with at-risk youth and trauma parenting has been a sink or swim adventure. Parenting neurodivergent children has sent Lois on a quest to understand the critical phases of child development and the challenges for at-risk youth. Her research focuses on hemispheric brain balancing, secure attachment, oppositional defiance and neurodevelopmental disorders, early childhood development, hardwired temperaments and brain remodeling. Expanding her research to early and middle adolescent development, Lois is authoring a book on middle school parenting. Dissecting this critical area of development into easy to understand language, she aims to reorient the apprehension many families feel during this rewarding parenting season. Join the conversation at LoisJRodriguez.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.LoisJRodriguez.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor\",\"www.instagram.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/author\/lrodriguez\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","og_description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/","og_site_name":"Savoring Motherhood","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor","article_published_time":"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/2183\/2024\/05\/grandparents-8577394_1280.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lois J Rodriguez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lois J Rodriguez","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/","name":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-05-08T15:44:17+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-22T15:54:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#\/schema\/person\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee"},"description":"Do grandparents, family or friends receive assistance when they care for a child who would otherwise enter foster care? Here's a breakdown.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/2024\/05\/michigan-leads-in-supporting-kinship-caregivers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michigan Leads in Supporting Kinship Caregivers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/","name":"Savoring Motherhood","description":"Savoring Motherhood dives into foster care, adoption, traditional & trauma parenting to encourage & equip families from an evangelical Christian perspective.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/#\/schema\/person\/8c792bfd423618641ea1a5592f8f40ee","name":"Lois J Rodriguez","description":"As a foster parent & adoptive mom to 4 young boys, Lois went from newlywed to a family of 6 seemingly overnight. Her deep dive experience with at-risk youth and trauma parenting has been a sink or swim adventure. Parenting neurodivergent children has sent Lois on a quest to understand the critical phases of child development and the challenges for at-risk youth. Her research focuses on hemispheric brain balancing, secure attachment, oppositional defiance and neurodevelopmental disorders, early childhood development, hardwired temperaments and brain remodeling. Expanding her research to early and middle adolescent development, Lois is authoring a book on middle school parenting. Dissecting this critical area of development into easy to understand language, she aims to reorient the apprehension many families feel during this rewarding parenting season. Join the conversation at LoisJRodriguez.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.LoisJRodriguez.com","www.facebook.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor","www.instagram.com\/loisjrodriguezauthor"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/author\/lrodriguez\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/savoringmotherhood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} " "