National Kinship Care Month: Honoring Family, Support and Permanence

Each September, California joins the nation in celebrating Kinship Care Month, honoring the vital role of the relatives, non-related extended family members (NREFM) and kin who open their homes and hearts to children in times of need. 

These caregivers provide more than shelter—they offer emotional support, stability and a deep sense of belonging during a child’s most vulnerable moments. They share not only a roof, but also history, identity and community.  

This month, we shine a light on how California prioritizes a kin-first culture—keeping children connected to their families and communities—and the resources that make it possible. 

Setting the Standard With Family Finding and Engagement 

Since the mid-1990s, California’s child welfare system has been shifting from institutional and congregate care toward kinship and family-based placements. Research shows that children in relative or kinship care experience greater placement stability and better mental, physical, behavioral and emotional outcomes.  

To support this culture shift, the Center for Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement and Support—housed at the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in partnership with UC Davis—leads statewide efforts to locate relatives and keep children connected to their families. The Center’s dedicated staff focus exclusively on family finding, engagement and support. Its website offers a range of resources, including classes, webinars, microlearnings, toolkits, family stories and more.  

Rooted in Love: The Value of Kinship Care 

Kinship care offers children a stable, familiar environment that supports emotional well-being, preserves family connections and often leads to better, long-term outcomes than traditional foster care.  

Children in kinship care experience less trauma, greater emotional stability, improved behavior and mental health, fewer placement disruptions and stronger sibling bonds. Kinship caregivers typically have a deeper emotional investment and stronger motivation to care for the child(ren), which enhances stability and quality of care. This approach also keeps children connected to their biological families and histories, supporting reunification when appropriate.  

Support Systems for California Kinship Families  

The Caregiver Support Webinar Series consists of live and recorded webinars provided by CDSS and the California Alliance of Caregivers (CAC) on topics that have been requested by caregivers. These webinars provide information about the laws and policies that affect caregivers and their foster/kinship children, as well as providing popular resources and information, and include discussions from speakers and panels with lived experience. 

The California Kinship Navigator provides free personal assistants who make it quick and easy to get the resources kinship caregivers need. This program connects current and former foster youth and caregivers to resources such as food, housing, employment and education, advocacy and more. This is presented by CDSS in partnership with Think of Us.  

Family Urgent Response Systems (FURS) is a free 24/7/365 hotline with a coordinated statewide, regional and county-level system that delivers effective trauma-informed supports for all current and former foster youth and their caregivers. Through phone-based response and county-level in-home, in-person mobile response during situations of instability, FURS preserves the relationship of the caregiver and the child or youth.  

United Ways of California’s portal provides a searchable, county-by-county directory of local supports (e.g., respite care, childcare, housing, food) and live support via text, chat, or phone from kinship-trained specialist. This portal also offers a benefit eligibility “screener” covering 18 federal, state, and local aid programs.  

Additional kinship supports can be found at the CDSS Resources for Kinship Caregivers website.  

Financial and Legal Supports Available 

Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP)  

Kin-GAP provides both cash aid and Medi-Cal for eligible legal guardians. This program is intended to enhance family preservation and stability by providing relatives with an alternative route to permanency when reunification and adoption are not appropriate permanency options.  

Additional assistance programs kinship caregivers may qualify for include CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, CalFresh Child-Only TANF, WIC and California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Notably, only an estimated 13% of eligible families actually access all the benefits they qualify for—making outreach and navigation tools especially critical.  

Paid Family Leave (PFL) 

California’s PFL Program offers up to eight weeks of partial wage replacement when caregivers take time to bond with a child—this includes placements such as foster care or adoption.  

Supporting Kinship Families 

California’s kinship caregivers provide loving homes to children who can no longer remain with their parents, making promising futures possible. The community can support these caregivers by sharing information about benefits and providing tools to strengthen kinship care placements. Celebrating and uplifting kinship caregivers can inspire both current and potential caregivers to welcome children into their homes and lives.  

This September—and every month to come—let us continue to honor, respect and advocate for kinship care and the remarkable caregivers who make it possible. California’s kinship care system and kin-first culture demonstrate how community, resources and love can give children a true place to belong - and every child deserves that chance.  

Ashleigh Johnson (she/her) is an Analyst II with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in the Kin-Centric Compass Unit.  She is dedicated to advancing kinship-centered child welfare practices that recognize the vital role of family and kin in achieving positive outcomes for children and youth and place kinship at the heart of every decision, recognizing the vital role that family and kin play in achieving positive outcomes for children and youth. As the Tribal lead for the Excellence in Family Finding, Engagement, and Support (EFFES) Program, Johnson partners with California Tribes to strengthen family finding, engagement and kinship-centered practices. Through the Center for Excellence, she provides technical assistance, develops resources and fosters partnerships that help Tribes, counties and child welfare professionals build systems that keep children connected to their families, communities and culture.