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KINSHIP CARE
Family and community connections that help children thrive.
What is Kinship Care?
Prioritizing a child's connection to family and community, kinship care in Canada places children and youth with relatives or close family friends when their parents cannot safely care for them. This approach helps maintain vital cultural and community ties. Whether supported formally or informally by child welfare agencies, this familiar setting provides stability. Kinship care can be temporary, allowing birth parents time to address challenges, or it can become a permanent arrangement, ensuring a long-term stable environment for the child.
Why Kinship Care Matters
Who Can Be a Kinship Caregiver?
Kinship caregivers are typically relatives, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, or cousins. They can also be individuals with an existing emotional bond with the child, like a trusted family friend, neighbours or godparents.
Informal Kinship Care
Sometimes, families compassionately step in to arrange care for a child privately, without direct involvement from courts or child welfare agencies.
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These arrangements often arise during family crises, such as parental incarceration or serious illness, where relatives offer a helping hand.
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In these situations, there's typically no formal government oversight or financial support directly provided.
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Caregivers usually don't have legal custody initially, though they might explore obtaining it later to formalize the care.
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This type of care is often seen in communities where historical experiences have led to limited trust in formal child welfare systems.
Formal Kinship Care
Formal kinship care is a structured arrangement where children are cared for by relatives or close connections, with the support and supervision of a child welfare agency.
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While a child in formal kinship care is in the legal care of the government, they are lovingly placed within their kin caregiver's home.
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These caregivers often complete a home study, background checks, and specific training to ensure the best possible environment for the child.
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They are eligible for financial support and various services, similar to other foster parents, to help them meet the child's needs.
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This approach encourages long-term permanency for the child while actively preserving their vital family connections.
Kinship Adoption
Kinship adoption offers a profound path to permanent family connections by formally recognizing relatives or close connections as a child's adoptive parents.
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Legal Permanence: It involves the complete legal transfer of parental rights and responsibilities, providing the child with a lifelong legal family.
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Existing Relationships: This option prioritizes placing children with relatives or trusted individuals with whom they already have a significant bond.
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Preserving Connections: A core benefit is maintaining a child's vital family connections and cultural identity within a permanent home.
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Available Supports: Adoptive kinship families may be eligible for financial assistance and other services through specific permanency programs.
Resources by Provinces/Territories
Click on your province or territory to find local kinship care support services.
Note: Many of the resources available in the CYPCC Foster Care page will be able to support those looking into kinship care.
​CYPCC makes efforts to ensure the quality of its resources, but it is not responsible for the content of external links.