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Becoming involved in raising a relative's child: reasons, caregiver motivations and pathways to informal kinship care |
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| Authors: | James P Gleeson Julia M Wesley† Raquel Ellis‡ Claire Seryak† Gwen Walls Talley§ Jackie Robinson¶ |
| Institution: | Associate Professor,;PhD candidate, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL,;Research Scientist, Child Trends, Washington, DC,;Independent Consultant and the former Director, Family Based Services for Grand Boulevard Federation, Chicago, IL,;Research Assistant, Ounce of Prevention, Chicago, IL, USA |
| Abstract: | Interviews with 207 informal kinship caregivers describe a dynamic process that influences how children come to live with a relative other than their parent. This process involves three overlapping and often simultaneously occurring factors: (1) the reasons the children's parents were unable to care for them; (2) the caregiver's motivation for assuming responsibility for the child; and (3) the pathways or routes that children took to the caregiver's home. Understanding these factors and their mutual and simultaneous influence is important as we shape policies, programs and interventions to support families as they consider whether to care for a relative's child and once they assume this responsibility. |
| Keywords: | informal caregiving kinship care |