September is Kinship Care Month

When we say a child is in kinship care, it means that when the child was no longer able to safely live with parents, a relative or a non-relative adult who has a bond with the child (maybe a teacher, minister, long-time family friend) stepped up to take the child in.

Having kinship providers is so important – allowing children to stay with people they know maintains their sense of belonging and allows them to keep in touch with their family’s culture and traditions.

Hamilton County recently started paying kinship families $350 a month, per child, if they are caring for children in agency custody. This is the first time JFS has ever provided a kinship stipend. It is something we have wanted to do for quite some time.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services just last week announced a new online resource for kinship caregivers: FosterAndAdopt.jfs.ohio.gov/kinship.

We appreciate all of our kinship providers every day, but we take this month to honor them officially.

by Ashley Woods

Filed Under: Featured, News

Tagged: adoption, child abuse, child care, Child Welfare, department of job and family services, fatherhood, foster child, foster children, foster parents, foster youth, hamilton county department of job and family services, hamilton county job and family services, job and family services, moira weir