More than 2.7 million children in the United States are cared for by extended family members, with more than 5.8 million children living in grandparents’ homes. This represents an increase close to 18 percent in the last decade. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 13.1 percent of South Carolina’s children under the age of 18 live in households led by grandparents or other relatives.
Kinship care refers to grandparents and other relatives who have stepped up to raise children whose parents can no longer care for them. Kinship care givers help keep families together and keep children from entering the foster care system. However, these relative caregivers and the children they are raising are often isolated. They lack the knowledge on the support services, resources, programs, benefits, laws and policies available to help them successfully fulfill their caregiving role.
In April the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina held a listening session focused on the perspectives of kinship care providers, a growing and vulnerable population across South Carolina. The Foundation partnered with one of its current grantees, Helping and Lending Outreach Support (HALOS), which provides resources and special opportunities to abused and/or neglected children and their caregivers through partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations in Charleston and the surrounding area.
Read the report summarizing the Kinship Care Listening Session.
Today, the Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT released a report, Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families. In this report, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Foundation explores the increased number of children living with kinship care providers, including the latest state data and recommendations on how to support kinship families.
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina continues to explore the issues affecting these families and how they can receive the resources and support needed.
Kinship care refers to grandparents and other relatives who have stepped up to raise children whose parents can no longer care for them. Kinship care givers help keep families together and keep children from entering the foster care system. However, these relative caregivers and the children they are raising are often isolated. They lack the knowledge on the support services, resources, programs, benefits, laws and policies available to help them successfully fulfill their caregiving role.
In April the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina held a listening session focused on the perspectives of kinship care providers, a growing and vulnerable population across South Carolina. The Foundation partnered with one of its current grantees, Helping and Lending Outreach Support (HALOS), which provides resources and special opportunities to abused and/or neglected children and their caregivers through partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations in Charleston and the surrounding area.
Read the report summarizing the Kinship Care Listening Session.
Today, the Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT released a report, Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families. In this report, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Foundation explores the increased number of children living with kinship care providers, including the latest state data and recommendations on how to support kinship families.
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina continues to explore the issues affecting these families and how they can receive the resources and support needed.
