Relatives as Parents


You Are Not Alone

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than six million children across the country are living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives.   In Michigan, it is estimated that over 70,000 grandparents have sole responsibility for caring for their grandchildren.   In the U.P., there are over 1,200 households in which grandparents or other family members are raising relative children.   These situations are also known as Kinship Care.

Kinship families form when biological parents are unable to care for their children for reasons due to health, substance abuse, employment, incarceration, or even death.   To help prevent children from entering foster care, grandparents or other relatives take on the responsibility for raising their relative's children.   This can be through a formal or informal arrangement.   Regardless of the circumstances creating this kinship care, members of the kinship family are usually overwhelmed by the changes that occur in their lives.

The U.P. Kinship Resource Center's mission is to identify, reach out to, and assist grandparents and other family members raising relative children, and provide them with the support they need in order to maintain their families and their own personal well-being."   U.P. Kinship Care Resource Center is made possible by a grant from the Brookdale Fundation's Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) Initiative.

For more information, call:   1 (800) 338-7227
U.P. residents can dial 2-1-1   /   In Escanaba call: 786-4701


Other Resources for Relatives as Parents

National Family Caregiver Support Program

If you are over the age of 55 and caring for a relative child under the age of 19, we can help.   The National Family Caregiver Support Program offers some assistance through Kinship Care funding as a part of the Older American's act.   Examples of the types of assistance you can request include:
  •   Respite care
  •   Funding for camp or extracurricular activities
  •   Funding for school clothes or graduation expenses
  •   Driver's Education/Training
  •   Information & referral on legal and other kinship care issues

Funding is limited.   For more information about this supplemental funding, please contact the U.P. Kinship Care Resource Center at the numbers listed above.

MSU Kinship Care Resource Center

The mission of the Kinship Care Resource Center, which is part of the MSU School of Social Work, is to provide support for the physical, emotional, cultural, and social well-being of kinship families in Michigan.

•   Toll-Free: (800) 535-1218
Visit the Kinship Care Resource Center Web-Site.

AARP Foundation Grandparenting Program

Visit the AARP web-site for a wealth of information to help grandparents raise their grandchildren   -   or call 1(866) 839-0463

Generations United

Generations United (GU) is the national membership organization focused soley on improving the lives of children, youth, and older people through intergenerational strategies, programs, and public policies.

For more information, visit their website at www.gu.org


Visit UPCAP's Family Caregiver Services web-page for other programs and services that offer information and support to caregivers.