Stories of Care Management Kinship Families

Our Care Management services are built on a strengths-based, family empowerment approach, helping families tap into their own resilience while connecting them with community resources that promote safety, stability, and growth. As part of this continuum, our kinship programming makes it possible for children and youth who cannot safely remain at home to live with trusted kinship caregivers, including relatives, family friends, or other meaningful adults like teachers, coaches, or neighbors. These connections don’t just provide a safe place to live, they preserve relationships, culture, and a sense of belonging.

And when families and youth feel supported in this way, they thrive. 

• Fifteen-Year-Old Gaining Stability

  A fifteen-year-old girl had been in and out of foster care for years, facing multiple disrupted placements. In March 2025, she found stability with the parents of one of her friends, who welcomed her as family. Since then, she has been attending school daily, improving her behaviors, and building trust. Even more, her kinship caregivers have embraced her pregnant teen sister, providing support and a safe space to visit.

• Grandmother Reunites Siblings

  Four siblings entered foster care when their grandmother, their only kinship option, was experiencing homelessness. With our support, she was able to secure housing and bring her grandchildren home. Despite initial challenges, she recently started a job at their school and is providing stability, love, and connection to her extended family. The siblings are thriving in her care, and the family is moving forward together.

• Keeping Siblings Together

  When five youth lost their father and their mother faced challenges with substance use, their great aunt and uncle opened their home without hesitation. Since then, the siblings have been thriving, enrolled in school, receiving grief counseling, and participating in activities they love. Their mother is now working on her sobriety and is welcomed into the home for visits, showing how kinship caregivers not only nurture children but also support parents on the path to healing.

• Teen Finding Family

  After losing both parents and then her brother, a sixteen-year-old girl faced unimaginable loss. Though she was doing well in foster care, she longed for family connections. Our kinship team located a paternal cousin she had never met, and over time they built a strong bond. She moved into their home and has adjusted beautifully, now preparing for her senior year of high school with college in sight. Even as she turns eighteen, her kinship family is committed to giving her a permanent place to belong.