Providing Care, Guidance, and Stability for Those Who Need It Most
Kinship Caregiving & Vulnerable Populations Fact Sheet
Kinship caregiving provides vital support for vulnerable individuals—including children, elderly adults, and individuals with mental illness or intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). Millions of people depend on relatives and close family friends to fill essential caregiving roles.
Kinship Care
Kinship care is a caregiving arrangement in which children, youth, or other dependent individuals who cannot remain with their biological parents are cared for by relatives, close family friends, or trusted community members—rather than being placed in the traditional foster care system or facility. This approach provides stability, familiarity, and continuity during times of crisis, trauma, or loss of a primary caregiver.
The Core Features of Kinship Care:
Close Connections
Grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, children, godparents, or family friends, including 'fictive kin' who are not blood relatives but share strong emotional bonds.
Population Served
Children facing parental loss, abuse, neglect, or instability; vulnerable adults, including the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and those with chronic illnesses.
Types of Kinship Care
Informal (family-arranged) or formal (court/agency-involved with potential support benefits).
Vulnerable Individuals Impacted and Community Awareness
Children
Kinship care refers to situations where children who cannot remain with their biological parents are cared for by relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, etc.) instead of entering the traditional foster care system.
➜ About 2.4 million U.S. children are raised in kinship care without parents present (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Virginia has historically ranked low in placing children with relatives, with many entering foster care with non-relative families instead.
➜ Many children in kinship care face trauma, parental substance abuse, incarceration, or death
➜ Kinship placements offer greater stability than foster care, institutional, or facility living but caregivers often lack resources.
Elderly Adults
For older adults, kinship care often refers to family-based caregiving where adult children, grandchildren, siblings, or extended relatives take responsibility for an elder who cannot fully live independently.
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➜ Over 41 million unpaid caregivers provide care to adults age 65+ in the U.S. (AARP, 2022).
âžœ Many elderly rely on kin—grandchildren, nieces, nephews when adult children are unavailable.
➜ Needs include dementia care, chronic illness management, and personal support.
Individuals with Mental Illness
➜ 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness.
➜ Family members often serve as caregivers for those with serious conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression.
➜ Kinship caregivers experience high stress and financial strain due to limited community support
Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (IDD)
➜ Approximately 7.3 million Americans live with IDD.
➜ Nearly 75% live with a family caregiver, often parents, siblings, or relatives.
➜ Many primary caregivers are aging, raising concerns about future care needs.
Combined Impact
➜ Kinship caregivers support millions of vulnerable individuals nationwide.
➜ Disproportionately affects low-income families, communities of color, and rural populations.
➜ Caregivers fill gaps in the social safety net with limited recognition and support.
➜ Strengthening kinship care is critical to community resilience and equity.
