Kinship caregivers \u2014 grandparents and relatives \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandfamilies fall into poverty, housing instability, and caregiver health crises \u2014 and children often enter foster care primarily due to poverty and instability, not abuse or neglect<\/em>. New York State alone spends over $1.3 billion on foster care annually<\/strong>, while 195,000 children in kinship care receive far fewer supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a preventable tragedy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Most kinship care happens informally \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grandfamilies Alliance sits at the intersection of three major policy systems \u2014 child welfare prevention, affordable housing, and aging policy \u2014 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 \u2014 it is dramatically less expensive for government systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n $1.3B+<\/strong> spent annually in New York State alone on a system that separates children from family.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n 195,000 children<\/strong> in NY kinship care receive far fewer supports than foster children, despite better outcomes.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhy Grandfamilies Are Invisible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Foster Care Cost<\/h3>\n
Kinship Care Gap<\/h3>\n