Kinship Care

When a child needs family, we help family say yes

When a child can't stay with their parents, keeping them with people who already love them changes everything. Whether you're a relative stepping up or a professional placing a child with kin, we help you get the support, the licensing, and the answers, here in Virginia or across state lines.

I'm family or kin I'm helping place a child
Family members of different generations gathered around a dining table

What Kinship Care Actually Is

Kinship care is simple at its heart. When children can't live with their parents, they're raised by a relative or a close family friend instead of moving in with strangers. A grandmother. An aunt. An older sibling. The family friend who's always been “Auntie.”

It keeps children connected to their family, their culture, and the people who ground them. In Virginia it can be informal, worked out within a family, or formal, with the child welfare system involved and real support attached. Children who stay with kin tend to move less, settle faster, and hold onto the relationships that matter. That's why it's almost always the first, best option.

Two Ways In

Kinship care can begin with a relative answering an unexpected call, or with a professional trying to make the right placement happen quickly. ESP supports both sides of that moment.

Older woman using a laptop at home
For Families and Kinship Caregivers

You got the call. Now what?

Taking in a child you love is a yes from the heart. Then a hundred practical questions land at once. We sit on your side of the table and help you work through them:

  • Understand your options, from informal care through to becoming a licensed kinship foster home
  • Unlock the financial support you're entitled to, including kinship subsidies, child-only TANF, and Medicaid
  • Get approved or licensed without drowning in paperwork
  • Have someone to call when it gets hard, long after placement day
Fill out a form today
Two people discussing a case together
For Child Advocates and Professionals

Placing a child with kin?

You already know kin is usually the right call. We help you make it happen faster, and make it hold:

  • Kinship home studies and approvals under Virginia's kinship-specific standards
  • Cross-state placements handled properly through the ICPC process
  • Wraparound support that keeps placements from breaking down
  • A responsive partner who actually picks up the phone
Fill out a form today

How We Help

Licensing &
Approval

Getting a kinship home approved or licensed in Virginia, including the newer kinship standards that recognize relatives aren't strangers and shouldn't be assessed like them. We tell you what's needed, then help you get there.

Money &
Benefits

Plain-English help working out what a child qualifies for: Virginia's Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program and the state-funded kinship subsidy, child-only TANF, Medicaid through Cover Virginia, and child support. Most families have no idea how much support they're leaving on the table.

Across
State Lines

When the child and the family live in different states, the placement runs through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). It takes patience and it goes far better with someone who's done it before. We help both states keep it moving so a child isn't left waiting.

Ongoing
Support

Kinship care doesn't stop once a child is placed. Families often need help navigating changes, solving problems and working out what comes next. We stay alongside you with practical support, answers and guidance as your family's needs change.

Why kinship works

Children do best with family. It isn't only what feels right, it's what the evidence shows. Kids placed with kin have more stability, fewer moves, and stronger ties to their community and culture than those placed with strangers.

Both Virginia and the federal government have moved to make kinship licensing simpler and better funded, because keeping children with the people who love them is what works.

2.5M+ children across the U.S. are already being raised by grandparents and other relatives.

Questions Families Ask Us

Not always. Some families care for a child informally. But getting approved or licensed as a kinship foster home usually unlocks financial support and services, and we'll help you decide what fits your situation.

Often, yes. Depending on the child's circumstances there's kinship guardianship assistance, a state-funded kinship subsidy, child-only TANF, and Medicaid. We help you find what you qualify for and actually apply.

Yes. It runs through the ICPC process, which both states have to approve before the child moves. It can take time, and it's a lot smoother with someone guiding it. That's us.

That's exactly the kind of case we take on. Reach out and we'll talk through the child's needs and the fastest safe route to placement.

Reaching out costs nothing.

Let's talk it through. One conversation, no pressure, no obligation.

Whether you're a family trying to do right by a child or a professional with a placement to make, we're here.

Call us: 804-714-1776

Need urgent support now? Our offices are open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday. Should you need support outside of these hours, Virginia's Department of Social Services runs a free state wide kinship line with information 365 days a year: (888) 593-1972.

Contact Us to Have a Conversation

Tell us a little about what you need and someone from ESP can follow up with you.