Kinship Care refers to the care of children by grandparents and other relatives. Relatives are the preferred resource for children who must be removed from their birth parents because they maintain the children's connections with their families. Kinship care may be formal and involve a training and licensure process for the caregivers or it may be informal and involve only an assessment process to ensure the safety and suitability of the home. In all these situations, additional support is helpful when children are moved to relatives' homes. Below are some programs and agencies that can help. Find the Relative National Family Caregiver Program Fact Sheet here.
Local Resources
National Family Caregiver Support Program
Every county and tribe in Wisconsin has programs to support caregivers. On this website, you can locate your local Aging & Disability Resource Center and/or Aging Unit to be connected to caregiver support programs in your area.
Wisconsin Kinship Care Program
This program, located in every county and tribe in Wisconsin, offers a monthly payment to help qualified kinship families support the children they are caring for. Find your local Kinship Care Coordinator and more information about this program.
Milwaukee Area
Our motto defines who we are and what we do. Every child needs someone in their corner. It is best if that someone is the child’s parent. But what about the one in ten children in America today who are raised without either parent in the home? We are here to help all of the relatives, friends, and neighbors who are stepping in to keep children safe and cared for.
SaintA- Milwaukee
This Foster & Kinship Navigation Program offers supportive services to families; both relative caregivers and foster parents utilizing the five pillars (health, education, housing, caring connections, and employment) and trauma-informed framework. The work with families is to help aid in placement stability and to help find permanence for children. The Foster & Kinship Navigation program offers Relative Caregiver Support Groups which are held several times throughout the year. For more information, contact Nikeyah Flagg, Foster & Kinship Navigation Supervisor nflagg@sainta.org
The Parenting Network- Milwaukee
The Parenting Network provides evidence-based education and support to anyone in a caregiving role. Many services are free, voluntary, confidential, and easily accessible. For more information contact the Parent Helpline, 414.671.0566, helplineG@theparentingnetwork.org, or visit the website: https://www.theparentingnetwork.org/
Dane County
The Rainbow Project Child & Family Counseling & Resource Clinic
Rainbow Project provides restorative healing and hope for young children and their families who have experienced trauma, helping them build a foundation for the mastery of life-sustaining skills. The Rainbow Project Staff have experience working with a variety of culturally and economically diverse populations. Grandparents & Other Relatives as Parents program provides monthly support and education group; quarterly newsletter; and child development and management resources. Contact Serena Breining, Group Facilitator, at sbreining@therainbowproject.net for more information.
Statewide Resources
Coalition for Children, Youth, and Families
The Coalition offers tools and resources to help foster and adoptive families create a network of support through webinars, newsletters, informational tip sheets, a free lending library and more.
This program provides extra food dollars to people with limited financial resources.
Kinship Navigator Portal
This resource is designed to help you find resources to help you with medical care, support payments, and more for the children in your care.
Kinship Navigator Training for Relative Caregivers
This video features stories of three Wisconsin kinship families to highlight common feelings and challenges associated with raising relatives' children, as well as available resources that can help families like yours.
Mental Health America of Wisconsin
County-specific mental health resources in Wisconsin.
Respite Care Association of Wisconsin
RCAW promotes, supports, and expands quality statewide respite care across the lifespan. This non-profit association offers grant programs to support family caregivers and free training for respite care providers.
Wisconsin Adoption & Permanency Support Program
This program offers resources such as a support group and mental health professionals directory, toll-free telephone support, newsletter, educational opportunities and other supports for adoptive and other families. Managed by Catholic Charities.
KINnect Relative Caregivers Virtual Support Group
Join other relatives or grandparents caring for children for a live, video check-in to socially connect and discuss topics related to relative caregiving.
This Child Care Subsidy Program (W-2 Child Care) helps eligible parents and guardians pay for a portion of child care while working.
National Resources
AARP Grandparenting
Raising grandchildren can be a tremendous challenge. Grandparent caregivers need to develop a support system to help them with the many tasks at hand. It's also important for grandparents to take good care of themselves so they can stay mentally and physically healthy enough to do the job..
Brookdale Foundation Relatives As Parents Program
This program encourages and promotes the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting due to the absence of the parents.
Generations United
This organization works to support grandfamilies and intergenerational communities through public policies, collaborations, and programs.
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network
We help government agencies and nonprofits in states, tribes, and territories work across jurisdictional and systemic boundaries to improve supports and services for families in which grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are raising children.
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network - Legal Advice Native Kinship/ Grandfamilies
If you are a Native parent or relative caregiver (whether grandparent, other extended family member, or family friend) of a child who was removed from their parents by a state child welfare system, this resource prepared by the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is for you.
Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network - Legal Options
When a child comes into your care, there are so many practical needs to deal with right away. Food, clothing, school, a place to sleep. You may also have concerns about legal issues and the paperwork you need to access supports for the child. Here are some issues caregivers often think about, and where to go for help.
Grandfamilies.org serves as a national legal resource in support of grandfamilies within and outside the child welfare system.
Kinship adoption & guardianship - Comparison Chart
This chart is designed to help kinship foster parents compare adoption and guardianship as two options that you and the children in your care can pursue to exit foster care and create permanent families in Wisconsin.
Practical Resources for Parents and Teachers - An unparalleled solution to builld healthy relationships with kids while setting firm, loving limits that turn problem behaviors around.
To request a toy, you make your request with the local Toys for Tots Chaper that supports your area. You will need to completed an application form that will be available on the local TFT Chapter website or pick one up at the local office. Expect a follow up appointment to discuss your need.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
A federal nutrition program that protects and improves the health of nutritionally at-risk infants, children up to 5 years old, and pregnant and postpartum individuals from households with low incomes. As a grandparent or other caregiver raising children whose parents cannot, you can apply for WIC for infants and children up to age 5 in your care. If approved, your local WIC clinic will give you an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card to purchase a food package tailored to the infant or child’s needs.