The Problem We Solve

Kinship caregivers — grandparents and relatives — already perform an essential public service. They raise children who would otherwise enter foster care, keep families together, preserve cultural ties, and save government systems billions of dollars annually.

Yet They Receive Far Too Little

• Far less financial support than licensed foster parents — often only a child-only TANF grant worth less than half a foster care payment
• Almost no housing designed specifically for their multigenerational needs
• Fragmented or nonexistent coordination between aging services, child welfare services, and education systems

The Result

Grandfamilies fall into poverty, housing instability, and caregiver health crises — and children often enter foster care primarily due to poverty and instability, not abuse or neglect. New York State alone spends over $1.3 billion on foster care annually, while 195,000 children in kinship care receive far fewer supports.

This is a preventable tragedy.

Why Grandfamilies Are Invisible

Most kinship care happens informally — grandparents step up without any interaction with the child welfare system. These families never appear in foster care statistics, never receive foster care payments, and rarely connect with the systems that could help. They are raising children in silence.

The Opportunity

Grandfamilies Alliance sits at the intersection of three major policy systems — child welfare prevention, affordable housing, and aging policy — and is uniquely positioned to build the proof of concept that all three require. By addressing income, housing, and services simultaneously, we can demonstrate that keeping children with family is not only better for outcomes — it is dramatically less expensive for government systems.