How to Become a Kinship Care Provider

Kinship care is the full-time care of children by adult relatives who aren't the children's parents. If you are caring for a relative's child who isn't your own, use the information below to learn how to be a kinship care provider.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Understand your role. As a kinship care provider, you are responsible for providing the child with love, nurturing, supervision and guidance. You must also provide a safe, stable environment for the child to grow and thrive.

2. Be willing to work with the service plan that was created for the child. You may need to transport the child to visitations with his or her parents. In addition, there may be specific court ordered activities or services in which the child is required to participate.

3. Check with your state's child services department to see what you must do to become a kinship care provider. Some typical requirements include that you must have an existing relationship with the child, have a stable home environment and pass a background check.

4. Locate a kinship care provider program in your community. Such a program will be able to identify local resources available to you. Many programs offer support groups and workshops to help kinship care providers connect with others and learn parenting skills.

5. Avoid saying negative things about the child's parents. Unfortunately, many children need kinship care due to devastating reasons, such as the children's parents using drugs, abusing or neglecting the children, suffering from a mental illness or incarceration. Instead of fixating on the negatives, focus on the positives and how you can help the child in your care.