Helping 'Kinship Caregivers'

Rose Greene and Mandi Breen are the co-principal investigators in the Kinship Caregivers Project. This project focuses in the New York State caregivers of more than 193,000 children living with extended family members, or family friends, or neighbors rather than their own parents.

The Center for Human Services Research is evaluating the effectiveness of interventions for these caregivers — grandparents, other relatives and even family friends or neighbors — who are serving as caregivers for these children. Together, these are known as “kinship caregivers.”

Rose Greene our Center Senior Research Scientist, indicated that many kinship caregivers did not expect to be raising “kin” children and often face a lack of resources and support, including financial support, when they take in the kids. Polvere indicates that "common reasons for placements of children include parental substance abuse, child neglect and maltreatment, parental divorce, youthful pregnancy of the child’s mother, parental job instability/economic insecurity, and parental incarceration or death.”

For more information, visit our Kinship Navigator evaluation page.