IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 694 

Expressing support for the designation of September 2023 as ‘‘National 

Kinship Care Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE (for herself, Mr. BACON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. 

MACE, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, Ms. BROWN, and Mr. DAVIS

of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of September 2023 

as ‘‘National Kinship Care Month’’. 

Whereas, in September 2023, ‘‘National Kinship Care 

Month’’ is observed; 

Whereas kinship care is the full-time care, nurturing, and 

protection of children by grandparents, siblings, members 

of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who have a family relationship to the over 

2,800,000 children living in a kinship care arrangement; 

Whereas death, incarceration, disability, parental substance 

use, military deployment, and incarceration are a few 

reasons causing grandparents, siblings, members of 

Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers 


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•HRES 694 IH 

to step forward to raise children they did not expect nor 

plan to raise; 

Whereas nearly one-third (31 percent) of all children in outof-home care in the United States are placed with relatives without a parent in the home, and there is considerable variation in that percentage across States, ranging 

from a low of 5 percent to a high of 46 percent in kinship care; 

Whereas, nationally, more than 133,405 children in foster 

care are formally placed in kinship foster care and more 

than 2,667,000 additional children are supported by kin 

caregivers outside of the foster care system in informal 

kinship arrangements; 

Whereas because there are approximately 20 children in informal kinship care arrangements for every 1 child in formal foster kinship care, grandparents, siblings, members 

of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers keep the foster care system from being overwhelmed and save taxpayers more than $4,000,000,000 

annually; 

Whereas kinship families comprised of grandparents, siblings, 

members of Tribes, stepparents, or fictive kin are not 

provided the same level of assistance and support as children placed in nonrelative or nonkin foster care; 

Whereas COVID–19 both heightened the challenges for existing kinship caregivers and created new kinship caregivers 

due to parents dying or becoming disabled due to the 

virus leaving behind children who have been taken in by 

their kinship families; 

Whereas Black children make up 14 percent of all children 

in the United States but comprise over 25 percent of all 


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children raised by grandparents and 23 percent of all 

children in foster care; 

Whereas American Indian/Alaska Native children make up 1 

percent of all children in the United States but comprise 

over 8 percent of all children raised by grandparents and 

2 percent of all children in foster care; 

Whereas kinship care enables children— 

(1) to maintain family relationships and family heritage; 

(2) to remain in their community; and 

(3) to thrive; 

Whereas research shows that living with relatives and fictive 

kin benefits children in a number of ways including— 

(1) kinship care minimizes trauma; 

(2) kinship placements improve behavioral and mental health outcomes; 

(3) kinship care promotes sibling and other family 

ties; 

(4) kinship families provide higher levels of permanency; and 

(5) kinship care reduces the risk of homelessness 

and criminal involvement by providing an important and 

emotionally sustaining bridge for older youth; 

Whereas kinship caregivers report tremendous satisfaction in 

caring for and raising children but face substantial challenges in accessing resources they need to care for their 

families, to avoid living in poverty, and to prevent children from entering foster care; 

Whereas much remains to be done to ensure that all children 

have a safe, loving, nurturing, and permanent family, regardless of age or special needs; 


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Whereas there are Federal child welfare laws recognizing kinship care, and more than 40 States and the District of 

Columbia have over 300 laws related to kinship 

caregiving, making it clear that kinship care is acknowledged as the nationally accepted term for grandparents, 

siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or 

fictive kin caregivers who are successfully caring for and 

raising children; 

Whereas over 40 States are implementing kinship navigator 

programs and services that support grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers who are not foster parents; 

Whereas the House of Representatives is proud to recognize 

the many kinship families in which children are raised by 

grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 

stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers; 

Whereas the House of Representatives wishes to honor the 

many grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, and fictive kin caregivers who 

throughout the history of the United States have provided loving homes for children to thrive; 

Whereas National Kinship Care Month provides an opportunity to urge people in every State to join in recognizing 

and celebrating kinship families and the tradition of 

grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, 

stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers in the United States 

helping raise children; and 

Whereas States are increasingly relying on grandparents, siblings, members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or fictive kin caregivers as foster parents, and are working to 


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increase the percentages of children in supported kinship 

foster families: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Kin3 ship Care Month’’; 

4 (2) encourages the Congress to enact policies to 

5 improve the lives of vulnerable children by sup6 porting kinship families in the best interests of such 

7 children; 

8 (3) honors the commitment and dedication of 

9 kinship caregivers and the advocates and allies who 

10 work tirelessly to provide assistance and services to 

11 kinship-caregiving families; and 

12 (4) reaffirms the need to continue working to 

13 improve the outcomes of all vulnerable children 

14 through parts B and E of title IV of the Social Se15 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and other pro16 grams designed— 

17 (A) to support vulnerable families; 

18 (B) to invest in prevention and reunifica19 tion services; and 

20 (C) to ensure that grandparents, siblings, 

21 members of Tribes, godparents, stepparents, or 

22 fictive kin caregivers who take on the role of 

23 kinship caregivers receive the necessary supVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR694.IH HR694

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1 ports, including but not limited to Kinship Nav2 igator programs. 

Æ 


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