I’m Already Caring for a Relative’s Child. What Support Can I Get?

Sometimes the child moves in first, and the questions come later.

You may already be doing school runs, washing uniforms, arranging appointments, and helping a child through a huge family change. You may not even call yourself a kinship caregiver. If you are raising a relative’s child or a child with whom you already have a close relationship, it is worth understanding what formal arrangement sits underneath the day-to-day care. That affects the support available to you.

Know your legal and child welfare status

Ask who currently has legal custody and whether the child is in foster care, a Parental Child Safety Placement, private custody, or another arrangement. Do not assume that because the child lives with you, you automatically have authority for every medical, school, or legal decision. If you are unclear, ask the responsible agency or obtain appropriate legal advice.

Ask what you are entitled to now

Support can include much more than a monthly payment. Depending on the arrangement, families may have access to caseworker support, training, childcare, medical coverage, financial assistance, community resources, and services for the child. Virginia also has dedicated kinship navigation resources for families raising relatives. Ask for a full picture rather than waiting until a crisis.

Your needs will change

The support you needed in week one will not necessarily be what you need six months later. A child’s behavior can change as they feel safer. Parent contact can become more complicated. School or mental health needs can emerge. Your own family can feel the strain. Keep talking about what is hard. Support is not evidence that you made the wrong choice.

ESP supports the family around the placement

ESP has worked with Virginia foster children and families since 2006. Our team supports resource families through training, casework, crisis support, and services designed to strengthen family relationships. Kinship families bring an existing bond. Our job is to respect that bond while helping caregivers navigate the responsibilities and realities of foster care.

Where Extra Special Parents FIT

If you are already caring for a child you know and the arrangement involves foster care, ask the child’s worker what support applies today. You do not need to wait until things are falling apart to ask for help.