Both Grandparents and Parents: Finding support as kinship caregivers.

Every September, Kinship Care Awareness Month brings attention to the growing number of families stepping up to raise children when parents cannot. Across the country, thousands of grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, teachers, and even coaches take on the responsibility of raising children in what is called kinship foster care.  

John and Kimber are one such couple, grandparents who stepped up to care for three grandchildren after their daughter’s situation spiraled out of control.

“The reason we got involved is we feared so much for the kids… we’ve always been a tight family,” said John. “Number one, they’re our grandkids and we love them.”

When a child cannot safely stay with parents, DHS tries to find a kinship alternative first. Research suggests that kinship foster care offers several unique advantages over non‑kin foster care, especially regarding behavioral health, placement stability, maintaining family and cultural ties, and overall well‑being, provided the kin placement is safe and supported.

For the first time, more children in Colorado foster care are in a kinship placement than a traditional foster placement, and the state hopes to see that number continue to increase. However, many kinship families struggle to find and access the support they need.

Like many kinship caregivers, John and Kimber were unprepared for the realities of full-time parenting years after raising their children. They found themselves navigating school enrollments, medical care, and emotional trauma on their own.

“Before we joined the Family Compass, we had no resources and no help whatsoever,” said John. “We did everything on our own.”

John and Kimber were able to get involved with Project 1.27’s Hope Forti and the “Family Compass” she was creating in Colorado Springs. The Compass offers personalized navigation for overwhelmed kinship and foster families, making accessing nonprofit and clinical support tailored to their unique family needs easier. Most importantly, the Compass connects kinship families with others living the same, unexpected life. Hope first met John and Kimber at a Kinship Support Group in her home.

“We were very nervous going into that first support group,” Kimber admitted. “But we realized we needed help. We felt very good when we left, and the kids had a blast running around the yard.”

The program connected them to resources, a support group, therapy for the kids, and even caregiver counseling for Kimber herself.

The Compass also introduced Project 1.27’s Neighbor Program, which Hope Forti also started. A volunteer “Neighbor” supports kinship, foster, and adoptive families in this program by bringing a monthly meal. John and Kimber’s Neighbor is Janet, and she began visiting regularly, bringing meals, offering friendship, and emotional support.

“She brings great meals and desserts… she loves the children and they love her, too. She came to visit me in the hospital when I had surgery. She’s very sweet,” said Kimber.

Thanks to the help of Cobbled Streets, another organization involved in the Family Compass, the family could take their grandkids on a dream trip to Florida, a rare and joyful moment for a family that had endured so much.

“They helped us with plane tickets to take all three grandkids to Florida.  To the beach, see their cousins, and theme parks,” John explained.

They also received emergency support from Foster Source.

 “We were struggling with money and food, and it was such a huge help when they brought us gift cards to Walmart to buy clothes and food for the kids,” Kimber recalled.

John recalls, “When we joined the Family Compass, it was like opening our eyes to everything, to all the other things that were possible for us to do with the kids, to have support, and it was eye-opening that there were so many other people, and especially other grandparents, who were out there having to raise their grandchildren.”  

Kinship families have high needs and Project 1.27 is glad to collaborate with other organizations to meet those needs. 

By Jenny Watson, Director of Communication and Development