Kinship Care May 2004

Definition and Incidence
Kinship care is a living arrangement in which a relative or
another person who is emotionally close to a child takes
on primary responsibility for raising that child (Leos-
Urbel, Bess, & Geen, 1999). According to the 2000 U.S.
Census, nationally, there are 4.5 million children under
the age of 18 living in grandparent-maintained
households, and another 1.5 million children under 18
living in other relative-maintained households (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2002 as Cited in Generations United,
2003). Several types of kinship care arrangements exist:
formal kinship care, informal