Non-Parent Kinship Caregivers: Your Options

Increasingly, children are being raised by persons other than their biological parents. Six million children in the United States live in grandparent or other relative-maintained households, according to the U.S. Census.1 Nationwide this represents a 30 percent increase, more than one million additional children, since 1990.2 In Minnesota, over 71,000 children live in kinship households: 47,679 children live in grandparent-headed households,3 and 23,911 live in households headed by close family friends and relatives other than grandparents.4 Traditionally, grandparents took on the caregiving responsibilities when their adult children were unable to parent. Currently, however, maternal aunts are the fastest-growing group of kinship caregivers in the United States.

Parents and Kinship Caregivers have several options under Minnesota law. These four blog posts outline the pros and cons of the options.